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Harper's Stereotype Edition, 

LIVES AND VOYAGES 

OF 

DRAKE, CAVENDISH, AND DAMPIER; 

wclud;-ko 
AN INTRODUCTOKY VIEW 

OP THE 

EARLIER DISCOVERIES IN THE SOUTH SEA, 

AND THB 

HISTORY OF THE BUCANIERS. 

WITH PORTRAITS ON STEKL. 



NEW-YORK : 

HARPER 4e brothers, 82 CLIFF-STREET. 
1839. 



i " 



J 7 



By Transfer 

0. C. Public Library 

JAN ^8 «34'l ■ 
JAN 2 8 1941 



^"^ WITHDRAWN 



£t^ 



PREFACE. 



This volume is devoted to the Lives of tliree of 
the most eminent men that England has ever sent 
forth into the field of her highest achievement. 
The relation of their Voyages, Discoveries, and 
Adventures is in so far the history of the rise of 
her naval power. If it be that the first inspiring 
thoughts of our youth are inseparably connected 
with marhime enterprise, — with the perils, vicissi- 
tudes, new scenes, romantic incidents, the bold- 
ness, fortitude, and endurance of men tasked to 
the utmost of man's physical and moral powers, 
which are displayed in the narratives of the elder 
voyagers, — this work cannot want interest. It 
contains, from the very nature of the subject, much 
curious and valuable information, gleaned from 
many sources, and in every instance verified by 
scrupulous examination and reference to the foun- 
tain-head ; while it is believed that, together with 
the voyages, fuller and more accurate personal 
memoirs of Drake, Cavendish, and Dampier are 
given here than any that have yet been submitted 
to the public. Early Spanish discovery in the 
South Sea, and the first circumnavigation of the 
globe in the ever-memorable voyage of Magellan, 
form a subordinate, but it is hoped an appropriate 



10 PREFACE. 

branch of the work : and the History of the Buca- 
neers, those daring rovers, whose wikl adventures 
afford so much to <;harm the youthful mind, is so 
closely interwoven with the Memoirs of J)ampier 
as to form one tissue. Instead of proving a blem- 
ish, it is therefvsre presumed that the brief history 
of this remarkable fratemity may be found no in- 
con-gruous episode in a volume intended by the 
author as a contribution to popular nautical his- 
tory, of which the subject, though complete in 
itself, forms also an interesting chapter in the 
annals of maritime enterprise and Adventure. 

Edinburgh, Novemberi 1831. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

SKETCH OF EARLY DISCOVERIES 1\ THE SOUTK SEA, 

Drake sees the Pacific— Spirit of Mafilirne Enterprise in England- 
Notice of Early Attemjjts tb reacli India by tiie We^t— Voyages t<y 
discover a Passage to the Spice Isles through the Ccatinent of Ame- 
rica—Attempts of Colunrlhus— Pinzon— Juan Pones— Vasco Nunea 
beholds the South Sea— Voyage of Magellan — Tie dtscovers and 
Jiasses the Straits— The Patagoiiians — Discovers /lie Ladrones — The 
vXrchipelago of St. Lazarus— Customs and Manrrers atMazagua and- 
Zebu— Con version of the King and People — BattleatMatan — Magellan 
killed -Massacre of the Spaniards— Progress and further Discoveries' 
of Magellan's Squadron— Customs of liorneo— The Moluccas — The 
Vitoria returns to Spain, having circumn^ivigated the Globe— Expe^ 
dition of Loyasa-Discoveriesof Saavedra— Voyage of Villalobos— 
Spanish Settleinent in the Philippines— Discoveries of Juan Fernandez 
and Meiidana- Robinson Crusoe's Island — TheSolomoti Isles— Sum- 
mary nf Discovery in the South Sea prior to Drake's Circumnaviga- 
tion. Page 15" 

D R A K E. 

CHAPTER II. 

LIFE- OF SIR FRANCIS nRAKE. 

Drake's fiirth ind Parentage—He goes to Sea— Purser of a Biscay 
Trader-^Voyage to the Guinea Coast — Sir John Hawkins— Slave 
Tride— Affair at St. Juan de Ulloa— Drake returns to England— Ex- 
].?f. mental Vo^iges- Expedition o Nomhre de Dios— Journey across 
ta? Isthmus— Rich Booty— Returns Home— Fits out Frigates— Irish 
U^belFioii- Patronage of F.ssex : of Sir Christopher Hation— Intro- 
duced at Court — < 53^ 

CHAPTER in. 

Drake's circuainavigatiox* 

The Queen app/roves the new Expedition- Drake's Squadron — Cape 
Caiitin— Muiey Muloeh— Cape lilanco— Mayo and Brava— The Bra- 
zilians — 0!;itriches — Natives of Seal Bay — 'I'heir Manners and Dis» 
p«sitioii-7iPdtagonia«s— Unfortunate Affray— Stature of the Indians 
—Port St. Ji«i'an— Doughly's Trial and Execution— Passage of the 



Xii CONTENTS. 

Strait— The Natives— The Fleet separated— Tierra del Fuego— Fat* 
of the Shallop's Crew— Cape Horn— The Elizabelhides— Capture of 
Spanish Prizes — Lamas with Treasure — Capture of the Cacafuego— • 
The Hind proceeds in Search of llie Norlh-west Passage — Indians 
of New Albion discovered— Singular Manners rf the Indians- 
Drake crosses the Pacific^— The Ladrones— The Moluccas— Remark- 
able Preservation — Baratane — Java — The Voyage Home— The Cape 
of Good Hope— Arrival ai Plymouth— Drake's Fame — The Q,ueen 
visits his Ship * 4,. 63 

CHAPTER IV. 

EXPEDITIONS TO THE WEST INDIES* 

Commencemrient of Hostilities with Spain— Drake captures St. Jago— 
Cruelty of the Portuguese — Storming of St. Domingo and Carthagena 
— 'J'he Fever of the West Indies— Sir Walter Raleigh's Colony- 
Drake destroys the Spanish Shipping— Observations on his Character 
— TheSpanisl.1 Armada— Capture of the Galleon of Don Pedro Valdez 
— Expedition to restore Don Antonio — Expedition with Hawkins to 
the Spanish SeiMements in the West Indies— Attempt against Porto 
Rico— Failure of Baskerville's Expedition across the Isthmus — 
Death of Sir Frai;cis Drake— Estimate of his Characier and Public 
Serviced . * 110 



CAVENDISH. 

Ci; AFTER V. 

VOYAGE BOt'ND THE WORLD. 

Policy of Queen Elizabeth— Public Spirit of the English Nobility- 
Ancestry of Cavendish— His Voydge to Virginia— Equipment of his 
Squadron— Discovery of Port Desire— Colony of Pedro Sarniier.to — 
Misery of New Settlers— Sarmiento made Prisoner-^Natives of the 
Straits— Indian Tributaries of Santa' Maria — Escape of Tome Her- 
nandez—A Watering Party cut off— Capture of Spanish Ships— Use 
of Torture by Cavendish— Paita stor med— Cacique of Puna— Skir- 
mish with the Spaniards— March into the Woods— Progress of the 
Squadron'- -Capture of the Santa Anna 123 

CHAPTER Vt 

SECOND VOYAGE TO THE SOl'tTH SEA. 

New Expedition to the South Sea— Attack on tl'e Portuguese SetUe- 
ments — Delay of the Sqtiadron — Letter of Cavt'iulish — Relatio'i by 
Jane— Sufferings in Maiiellan's Strait— SeparatioiT of Davis— Davis's 
Southern [sla- ■(! —Piety of the Captain— Naiivi s «f Port Dt^^n^— 
Nine Men lost— Homeward Voyaijeof Davis— Adve.ntiir's ol Caven- 
dish—He lose.* twenty-fourMen— Unfortunate Affair i« SpiriioSauto 
— Fury and Indignation of Cavendish— Separation of t1»e Roebuck- 
Discontent of the Crew—Firmness of the CcHimandfer-^They miss 
St. H«4eu8'-Beatli of CaveQdisli--His Cliaracter r....... *. 140 



CONTENTS. xiil 



DAMPIER. 

CHAPTER Vir. 

THE BUCANIERS OP AMERICA. 

Origin of the Bueaniers— Cattle-hunters of Hispanrola— Policy of 
France and England— Cruelty to the Caribs— Seizure of St. Christo- 
pher's — Bucanier Settlement of Tortuga — Customs &f the Buea- 
niers— Their Maxims— Manner of dividing their Spoils— Their Char- 
acter—Capture of Jamaica — Enterprise of Legrand— Portugues and 
Mansvelt— The Bucanier Chief Lolonnois — His Cruelties — Manners 
of the Bueaniers— Montbar the Exterminator— F'nsi Expedition of 
Morgan— Piilage of Puerto del Principe- Storming of Porto Bello— 
Heroism of the Spanish Governor— Capture of Maracaibo and Gibral- 
tar— Stratagems of Morgan— Projected Bucanier Settlement— Storm- 
ing of the Castle of Chagre — March of the Bueaniers to Panama — 
Battle with the Spaniards— Cruelty of the Freebooters — Return of 
the Bueaniers to Chagre— Perfidy of Morgan— Proclamation of the 
Cfovernor of Jamaica— Concluding History of Morgan —The Buea- 
niers again increase— Capture of VeraCruz— They direct their Atten- 
tion to Peru— Narrative of Dampier 164 

CHAPTER \in. 

ADVENTURES AMONG THE WOODCUTTERS AND BUCANIERS. 

Ancestry and Education of Dampier— His Voyage to India— Goes to 
Jamaica as a Planter— Becomes a Logwood-cutter in Campeachy— 
Habits of the Wood-cutters— Appearance of the Country— Its Natural 
Productions— The Wild Pine— Snakes— Ants— The Humming-bird — 
Alligators— Dampier loses himself in the Woods— Copartnership with 
three Scotchmen — Dreadfbl Hurricane in the Bay — Its Consequences 
—Beef Island— The Indians— John d'Acosta— Mode of hocksing Cattle 
—Dampier joins the Bueaniers — The Manatee, or Sea-cow— The 
River Tobasco— Indians under the Spanish Priests— Their Manners 
and Condition- Attack of Alvarado— Escape of the Bueaniers from 
the Spanish Armadilloes— ilfwryacft — Dampier rejoins the Logwood- 
ciHters— Returns to England 204 

CHAPTER IX. 

ADVENTURES VITITH THE BUCANIERS. 

Dampier leaves England for Jamaica— Joins the Bueaniers— Assault 
of Porto Bello— Description of the Mosquito Indians— Their Ingenuity 
in Fishing— In using the Harpoon— Acuteness of their Senses— Their 
Customs— The Bueaniers under Captain Sharp cross the Isthmus 
of Darien— Sea-fight in the Road of Panama— Differences among the 
Bueaniers— Sharp leaves the South Sea— Retreat of Dampier and a 
Party of Bueaniers across the Isthmus— Difficulties of the Journey 
— They reach the Samballas Isles— Cruise of Dampier with tlie Buo 
aniers^Adveatures of Wafer among the Indians of the Darien-* 

6 



XlV CONTENTS. 

Carthagena, and the Monastery there— Dutch Governor— Wreck tit 
the French Fleet— Stratagem of a French Bucanier— Pillage of Riof 
de Id Hacha— Pearl-fishery— The Tropic-bird— Iguanas — Negro Doc- 
tor— Dampier's further Adventures indicated 233' 

CHAPTER X. 

CIRCUMNAVIQATIOX OF THE GLOBE* 

bampier*s New Voyajre— Cape de Verd Isles— Bachelor's Delight^ Falk- 
land Isles— Mosquito William— Nautical Remarks of Dumpier- J unc- 

. iiou of Cook and Eaton — The Galapagos Islands — Death of Cook- 
Escape of the Bucaiiiers— Descent at Amapalla^Spatiish Indians— 
The Bucaniers separate— I.a Plata and Manta— The Cygnet joins the 
Bucaniers— Descent on Paita — Attempt on Guayaquil — Dampier's 
Scheme of working the Mines— Indians of St. Jago— The Bucaniera 
watch tlie Plate-fleet- Battle in the Bay of Panama— Assault of Leon 
— Dampier remains in the Cygnet— His Sickness— Crosses the Pacific 
— Island of Gualian — Mindanao — Its Customs — The Bucaniers desert 
Swan — Future Cruise of the Cygnet— Puio Condore — The Bashee 
isles- Charactci' and Manners of the Islanders— Cruise to New-Hol- 
land—The Country and People — The Nicobar Islands— Dampier leaves 
the Bucaniers — His Voyage to Acheen — Voyages with Captains Bowry 
iand Weldoa— Rema.nsat Bencoolcn— Prince Jeoly— Dampier's Return 
to England — Publication of his Voyages— Employment by the Admi- 
ralty : .w 246 

CHAPTER XI. 

VOYAOE TO NEW-HOLLAND. 

Voyage of Discovery to New-Holland and New-Guinea— Dampier on 
the Coast of New- Holland— Dirk Ilartog's Reede— Appearance and 
Productions of the Country— Discoveries on the Northern Coasts — 
Plants ami Animals— Appearance and Character of the Natives- 
Voyage to New-Guinea— New Islands and their Productions— Dis- 
covery of King William's Island— Slingers' Bay — Manners of the 
Natives— Discovery of Ca|)e St. George and Cape Orford— Natives of 
Port Montague- Theirsuspicious, iiihospiiable Character— Affray wilh 
the Natives— Volcanic Island-Discovery of Nova Britannia— Islands 
in Dampier's Strait— Return to F\ing William's Island, and Second 
Voyago to the Coast of New-Holl>ind— Dampier's irhipwreck- Un- 
grateful Receptirtu -His Voyage in the St. George— Bad Conduct of 
his Oflicers— Dampier's Imprisonment by the Dutch — Return to Eng- 
land-Voyage in the Duke— Testimony borne to his Merits— Reflec- 
tions on bis Character and Fate— The End 307 



PORTRAITS. 

Sir Franpis Drt akr. .* To face the Title-page. 

T'iOMAsCtVKNDisH • Page 123 

WlLLUU DaMFIBR- -4 «..i *.«.«... 4.. .< i4 IM 



LIVES 



EARLY ENGLISH NAVIGATORS, &c. 



CHAPTEk I. 

Sketch of Early Discoveries in the South Sea. 

Drake sees the Tacific— Spirit of Maritime Enterprise in England- 
Notice of Early Attempts to reach India by the West — Voyages to 
discover a Passage to (lie Spice Isles llirouph tlie Continent of Ame- 
rica—Attempts of Columbus— Pinzon— Juan Ponce— Vasco Nunez 
beholds the South Sea— Voyage of Magellan— lie discovers and 
passes the Straits— The Patagotiians — Discovers ihe I.adrones — The 
Archipelago of St. Lazarus— Customs and Manners at Ma/agua and 
Zehu— Con version ofl he King and People- BattieatMataii — Magellan 
killed— Massacre of the Spaniards— Progress and further Discoveries 
of Magellan's Squadron— Customs of liorneo— Tlie Moluccas — The 
Vitoria returns to Spain, having circumnavigated the Globe— Expe- 
dition of Lftyasa-Discoveriesof Saavedra— Voyage of \'illaU)hos— 
Spanish Settlement in the Philippines— Discoveries of.Itian Fernaiidei 
and Mendana— Robinson Crusoe's Island — The Solomon Isles— Sum- 
mary of Discovery in the South Sea prior to Drake's Circumnavigation. 

The early records of maritime enterprise rehite no inci- 
dent more striking than the adventure of Ct^^jtain Francis 
Drake forcing his way across the Isthmus of Darien, and 
ascending that " goodly and great high tree" from which 
he could look back upon the eastern shores of the Atlantic 
where his ship lay, and forward in the distance descry that 
new and mighty ocean, the subject of so many golden dreams 
and ambitious hopes. M'^hcn we read that in the enthu- 
siasm of that moment Drake lifted up his hands, " and be- 
sought Almighty God of his goodness to give him life and 
leave to sail once an English ship upon that sea,'* time and 
space are forgotten as we unconsciously breathe " Amen,'* 
to a prayer so gloriously fulfilled. 



16 DRAKE SEES THE SOUTH SEA. 

Though the previous voyages of Magellan and his suc- 
cessors deny Sir Francis Drake the honour of being the 
first navigator in the South Seas, he wras not only the first 
Englishman that traversed a large portion of the Pacific in 
its length and breadth, and circumnavigated the terraqueous 
globe, but an eminent and successful discoverer in the most 
brilliant era of maritime adventure. Drake is remembered 
for other qualities more essentially English ; for firmness, 
skill, the talent of command, perseverance, generosity, and 
bravery. 

In the age of Drake navigation as a science was still very 
imperfect ; but the spirit of enterprise had reached the 
height, and among the more distinguished of the early 
voyagers was animated and guided by soaring and gene- 
rous motives. Inspired by the love of adventure, and the 
ambition of discovery and conquest, the leaders regarded 
the spoils, which formed the sole object of their mercenary 
bands, chiefly as the means of rewarding faithful and gal- 
lant service, and of stimulating to new exploits. The 
same zeal and gallantry which led the Spaniards to propa- 
gate the faith or extend the empire of their sovereign in 
the New World animated the English in extending the 
glory of England and of Elizabeth, and in chastising and 
despoiling the " proud Don," now regarded as the national 
enemy. These reigning motives gave a character of lofti- 
ness and a tincture of chivalry to the early emprises of the 
English in the New World, even when their expeditions ' 
were undertaken to promote private and mercenary inter- 
ests. In the instance of Raleigh, " chivalry had left the 
land and launched upon the deep ;" and Sir Philip Sidney, 
the knight who « nourished high thoughts in a heart of 
courtesy," would have been the volunteer companion of the 
enterprises of Drake, and was only overruled in this pur 
pose by the commands of his royal mistress. 

Before entering upon the life of Drake, — or, more prop 
erly the narrative of those adventures and exploits which 
form its interest and an animating episode in English his. 
tory, — it may be necessary to give a brief and rapid sketch 
of the voyages and discoveries of some of the early 
navigators in the South Sea previous to his memorable 
Circumnavigation, selecting the more interesting and suc- 
cessful of these attempts. 



if DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS. 17 

In attempting to discover a passage to Eastern India by 
the west, a short road to the gums and spices, the gold and 
gems of known and of imaginar}' regions, Columbus had, 
as it were by accident, stumbled upon America, — on those 
islands of the Western Indies which he at first concluded 
to be the rich countries his »agficity and boldness had taught 
him to search for in this new direction. The discovery of 
the continent soon followed that of the islands of America ; 
and though the real wealth and importance of this New 
World could not be magnified beyond their value by the 
exaggerations and flatteries of the first voyagers, they were 
soon overlooked, and ambition and cupidity pointed to other 
regions of more abounding riches and higher civilization, 
overflowing with all that the sordid covet or the ambitious 
desire. The discoveries of the Portuguese had extended 
to regions where the harvest of the European adventurer 
was prepared before he visited the field. This inflamed 
the avidity of the Spaniards ; and the land discovered by 
Columbus, after a time, came to be regarded as almost an 
impediment to the progress of adventure which might be 
crowned with like rewards. Cortez had not yet discovered 
Mexico ; Peru and New Spain were still unknown ; and 
though the few strange animals and beautiful birds, and 
the rich vegetable productions brought home as the first- 
fruits of discovery in a savage and unsettled country, were 
admired as specimens and symbols, these were not the wealth 
which the Old World valued, nor were the lands that pro- 
duced them the regions which were to realize the romantic 
dreams of an immediate and overflowing acquisition of the 
most rare and precious commodities of the East. Colum- 
bus had at first mistaken the islands he discovered for those 
of Eastern India. Cuba he fancied a part of Asia ; hut, 
once convinced of his mistake by the discovery of the con- 
tinent of America, and by farther research, his bold genius 
and instinctive sagacity suggested the necessity of a sea 
farther west, washing the opposite side of the new conti- 
nent, and dividing it, probably by a narrow passage, from 
the land ho sought. It has been alleged that his conjecture 
was confirmed by very early information of the actual ex- 
istence of this western sea ; and, as we shall afterward 
«ee, the shores of the new continent were explored from 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to R'o de la Plata, to discover 
B2 



18 MERIDIAN OF PARTITION. 

the strait which must form the channel of communication. 
The search for this passage to the oriental islands was the 
last labour in which Columbus engaged, — his final and 
most disastrous voyage being undertaken for this especial 
object. But the discovery remained a legacy, which this 
great man bequeathed to spirits cast in similar mould with 
his own. From the mount he had obtained a view of the 
promised land, but was denied the felicity of reaching it, 
or of tasting its fruits. 

The court of Spain was soon fully aware of the import- 
ance of following up the researches to which Columhus fell 
a martyr, and in which so many brave men had perished, 
though their fate only enkindled anew the ardour of dis- 
covery. The New World was become the grand lottery 
of the Old, in which each adventurer, unwarned by the fail- 
ure and disappointment of his predecessor, promised him- 
self the great prize. State policy and ambition were thus 
powerfully seconded by individual enterprise, zeal, or ra- 
pacity. Portugal and Spain, in their successive discoveries, 
reacted upon each other. The discoveries of the naviga- 
tors of the former nation, so rapid and splendid in the ear- 
lier part of the fifteenth century, and the more illustrious 
success of Columbus, had now planted the cross and the 
devices of their sovereigns and nations, as the insignia 
of conquest and possession, on many a league of barbarous 
coast in Africa and in America ; and though those unex- 
plored dominions may be thought to have lain too far apart 
to pfoduce clashing interests, the discovery of the Brazils 
by the Portuguese on the one hand, and the probability of 
the Spaniards attaining easy access to their East India pos- 
sessions on the other, begot great international jealousies. 
Rome was still the court of final appeal to Christendom, 
and the pope the source whence all new rights of sove- 
reignty were derived. A bull of donation issued by the too 
famous Alexander VI. fixed as limits of partition a meridian 
drawn 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape de Verd 
Islands ; and assigned to Spain the dominion of all lands 
newly discovered, or to be discovered, as far as 180 degrees 
to the west of this line ; and to Portugal all that lay within 
the same extent eastward of the meridian assumed. 

Neither England nor France acknowledged any right 
iiibercnt iii the pope to make such magnificent gifts of 



JOHN cabot's toyaqe. 19 

unknown territory. The former power sent out discoverers 
without demanding leave of his holiness ; and the French 
king shrewdly remarked, that he should like to see the will 
of Father Adam before he believed such donations were 
made exclusively to these favoured princes. Though neither 
Spain nor Portugal questioned the inherent right of the 
pope to gift the world to them as a theatre for plunder and 
spoliation, where they might at their pleasure rob the hea- 
then or gentiles, as the Indians were called by the early 
voyagers, the limits of partition became a long and fertile 
subject of difference between themselves. 

After the discovery of Cuba by Columbus, it was for a 
time believed to be a part of Asia, and the continent so ar- 
dently sought ; and, by a subtle and selfish interpretation 
of the papal grant, the Spaniards pretended to believe that 
all lands reached by a course taken from the west of this 
must be their territory, and that Portuguese discovery and 
lawful dominion could only be prosecuted and acquired from 
the east. This belief, real or pretended, afforded Spain an- 
other motive to the prosecution of more distant discoveries 
in the western direction. But time passed on ; and though 
the existence of the South Sea, long a probable conjecture, 
became every year more confirmed, little progress was made 
in useful discovery previous to the memorable voyage of 
Magalhanes ; though repeated attempts, which we shall 
briefly notice, had been made by different nations to discover 
the desired ocean. 

So early as 1496 the EngUsh, emulous of th? maritime 
glory recently acquired by Spain and Portugal, and indiffer- 
ent to the pope's charter of donation, fitted out an armament 
for discovery, which was conducted, under letters-patent 
from Henry VII., by John Cabot, a native of Venice, and 
his three sons, Sebastian, Lewis, and Sanctius. It appears 
to have been his object to seek for a western passage to the 
north of the new Spanish discoveries, and to reach Cathay 
in India by this route. In prosecution of this great scheme 
Cabot, in 1497, discovered the American continent, proba- 
bly at Newfoundland ; and his son Sebastian, in two suc- 
cessive voyages performed in 1498 and 1517, explored a 
great extent of the coast, from Hudson's Bay on the north 
as far as Virginia on the south. Although unsuccessful in 
the attainrae^at of their immediate object, these voya^s luvo 



20 THE CORTEREALS. 

justly entitled the English to the high distinction of beuj]^ 
the first discoverers of the American continent. 

Thus early was the idea of a north-west passage cherished 
in England. Three years after the voyage of Cabot (in 
1500) Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese gentleman, under the 
sanction of King Emanuel, pursued the track of the Cabots 
for the same object. Sailinij along the east coast of New- 
foundland, he reached the northern extremity of that island, 
and discovered the mouth of the St. Lawrence, which, with 
some appearance of probability, he concluded to be the open- 
inor to the west which he sought. He sailed also along the 
coast of Labrador, and appears to have reached nearly to 
Hudson's Bay, whence he returned to Portugal to report 
his discovery. There is a painful interest connected with 
this early navigation. On a second voyage undertaken to 
<;omplete the discovery the ship was wrecked, and his brother, 
Michael Cortereal, fitted out three ships, and sailed into 
these unknown seas in search of Caspar. The vessels ar- 
rived at a part of the coast where there were several inlets 
and rivers' mouths ; and each ship, in the hope of discover- 
ing the wrecked mariners, took a different course, agreeing 
to meet on a fixed day. Two of the vessels found the ap- 
pointed rendezvous, but the unfortunate Miehael shared the 
fate of the brother he had come to succour. Neither of thenl 
were ever heard of more. The third and eldest Cortereal 
still remained, and held a high appointment at the court of 
Emanuel. He would now have devoted himself to the 
search of his brothers, probably still surviving and languish- 
in or upon some barbarous coast ; but his affectionate design 
was overruled by the king, who would not consent to a third 
sacrifice. In memory of the disastrous fortunes of the Cor- 
tereals, it is said that the sea at the entry of the St. Law- 
rence was long called by the Portuguese The Gulf of the 
Three Brothers. 

Though important discoveries and improvements werei 
made in nautical and geographical science during the fif- 
teenth century, navigation remained for many generations 
subsequent to the voyages of the Cortereals uncertain and 
imperfect ; nor was it till the eia of Cook that those subor- 
dinate contrivanoes and that system of discipline and inter- 
nal regulation which now ensure the health and comfort 
(Of seamgn on long voyages were at all known> All distant 



VICENTE YANEZ PINZON. 21 

maritime undertakings were attended with uncertainty, if 
not with great peril ; and in the early periods of American 
discovery the loss of life was immense, though it often arose 
as much from privation and hardship as from shipwreck. 
There is, however, a class of hardy and resolute spirits on 
whom danger acts as the strongest stimulant to renewed 
eflbrt ; and a single instance of success, or the report of one, 
was sufficient to obliterate the memoiy of a hundred fail- 
ures. No sooner was one band destroyed than a new one 
embarked in the same perilous track, in the pursuit of fame 
and wealth, or impelled by th^t restless and roving spirit 
of adventure which marks the man who is born a sailor. 

Among the most renowned of these adventurous voyagers 
was Vicente Yanez Pinzon, one of three intrepid brothers,, 
who by their means and their influence aided Columbus in 
overcoming the many obstacles which opposed his daring 
and doubtful enterprise, and became the companions of his 
first great voyage. Dissensions and jealousies afterward 
sprung up among these friends, and their succeeding enter- 
prises were prosecuted apart. Of these the most memo- 
rable was undertaken by Vicente Yanez after the death of 
his elder brother, Martin Alonzo. In December, 1499, he 
sailed from the small port of Palos,* in Andalusia, with an 
armament of four caravels, and accompanied by two sons 
of his deceased brother and some of the seamen and pilots 
tvho had sailed with Columbus in his late expedition to the 
coast of Paria. Passing the Cape de Verd Islands, the ex- 
pedition sailed about threef hundred leagues south-west. 
They had scarcely passed the equinoctial line when the fleet 
was overtaken by a fearful tempest. The ships drifted on 
before the hurricane at a furious rate, and drove so far south, 
that when the storm abated and the heavens brightened the 
polar star was no longer to be seen. The dismay of these 
mariners, in the middle of the ocean, deprived of their only 
guide, may be conceived. The beautiful constellation of this 

* In the neighbourhood of Palos the descendants of the Pinzons flon- 
rish to this day, in much the same condition as when tlieir ancestors 
embarked with Columbus, '-a stanch, enpuring family, which for three 
centuries has stood merely upon its virtues." For this knowledge we 
are indebted to Mr. Washington Irving, whose pilgrimage to Palos forms 
a romantic sequel to his Life of Columbus 

t In Mr. Washington Irving's relation of this voyage the distance is 
made seven hundred leagues, which is evidently a misprint. 



22 VICENTE YxVNEZ PINZON. 

new hemisphere, the South Cross, was not yet become 
the cynosure of the wanderer in these untracked seas. But 
the continent had now been discovered ; and Pinzon, aware 
of the rich field which hiy before him, was resolutely bent 
on exploring its coasts. He made sail south-west, and, pro- 
ceeding about two hundred and forty leagues, in 8 degrees 
south, on the 20th January, 1500, beheld land in the dis- 
tance, which they named Santa Maria de la Consolacion, 
now known as Cape St. Augustine, a point on the most 
prominent part of the immense empire of Brazil. Pinzon 
went on shore, and with the usual formalities took posses- 
sion of this territory for the crown of Spain. At this time 
no natives were seen, though large footprints were traced 
on the sand ; but at night fires were beheld on the coast, and 
next day the Spaniards landed, and were encountered by a 
band of Indians of a more fierce and warlike character than 
any of those in more northern latitudes with whom previous 
experience had familiarized them. They were men of large 
stature, armed with bows and arrows, of ferocious features 
and haughty looks, who regarded the glittering toys and 
trinkets spread out to gain their friendship with indifference 
or contempt. They were a nomadic race, and prowled 
about chiefly in the night. Baffled here, Pinzon held south- 
west along the coast, and approached one of his greatest 
discoveries. At its threshold a painful adventure occurred. 
Coming to the mouth of a river too shallow to admit the 
ships, he sent the boats on shore filled with men well armed. 
From the banks of the river they saw a number of Indians 
on an adjoining height ; and a single Spaniard, armed with 
his sword and buckler, ventured to approach them, making 
signs of amity, and inviting a return of kindness. He threw 
them a string of hawks' bells, the jingle of which rpade 
this al favourite toy with the simple children of the New 
World. While he picked up a piece of gold which the 
natives threw to him, they rushed down to overpower and 
seize him, but not before he stood on the defensive, wielding 
his sword so dexterously that he held them at bay till his 
comrades came up to his assistance. The single-handed 
valour of the soldier had at first somewhat discomfited the 
Indians ; but they speedily rallied, killed eight or ten of the 
Spaniards with their darts and arrows, and pursued the 
whole party even into the water, where they seized and bore 



ViCIiNTE Vanez pinzon. 23 

off one of the boats. The desperate defence of the Span- 
iards, who pierced through or ripped up many of the natives, 
only served to inflame the valour and ferocity of their 
brother-warriors ; and the EuropeanSj defeated and dis- 
heartened, were glad, after severe loss and complete defeat, 
to retire to their ships unrevenged. On sailing north-wpst 
forty leagues farther, the seamen were astonished to find 
the water of the ocean so fresh that it could be employed for 
the ordinary purposes of the fleets and even to fill the casks. 
From this circumstance Pinzon naturally inferred the size 
of that mighty river, the streams of which actu^ly fresh- 
ened the Atlantic for many leagues from the shore, and also 
the extent of the vast continent whence its waters were col- 
lected and through which they flowed. Thus was discov- 
ered the far-famed Maranon, now kiiown as the river of Ama-* 
zons, or rather as the Orellana and the Amazon. At seve- 
ral of the islands lying along the banks of this immense 
river Pinzon's company landed. The natives were found a 
free-hearted, kindly, confiding race, ready to share whatever 
they possessed with their visiters, who, after the approved 
custom of Spanish navigators, repaid this trustfulness and 
hospitality by making thirty-six of the Indians captrves. 
Still holding northward, the crew, after many perils, had 
the felicity once more to greet the polar star. Passing the 
Oronoko, Pinzon, in the Gulf of Paria, took in a cargo of 
that wood which gives the name of Brazil to so large a por* 
tion of the continent ; and issuing by the Dragon's Throat, 
the fleet steered for Hispaniola. 

This voyage, which was full of vicissitude and perilous 
adventure, termmated in nothing of present importance, 
though Pinzon was willing to flatter himself that he had 
found the East Indies ; and carried home whatever gaudy 
weeds attracted the notice of his people, as specimens of 
the valuable spices and drugs which were known to abound 
in these regions. The only valuable production was the 
die-wood ; and the greatest curiosity an opossum, which 
found fai more favour at the court of Spain than any other 
of its fellow-passengers. 

Seven years later, a new voyage waa undertaken by 
Vicente Yanez and De Solis, for the specific purpose of 
discovering the western passage to the East Indies^ He 
had previously examined the whole coast firom Paria to 



24 LAST VOYAGE OF C0LUMBU8. 

Darien. This new expedition sailed in June, 1508, and the 
navigators being now familiarized with the track, they at 
once stood for Cape St. Augustine. Coasting to 40 de- 
grees south, they here and there landed and erected crosses, 
the usual signs of taking possession for the King of Cas- 
tile. Jealousies and disputes, the bane of so many con- 
joined maritime expeditions, terminated this unsatisfac- 
torily ; and the commanders returned in the following year 
to Spain, to refer their disputes to the government, which 
ended in De Solis being for a time thrown into prison. 

Roder^go de Bastida, a Spanish gentleman, in 1500, 
fitted out an expedition of two ships, in partnership with 
John de la Cosa, who had been a pilot under Columbus, 
and was accounted an experienced and skilful mariner. 
They steered directly for the continent, and discovered the 
land now called the Spanish Main. Though they encoun- 
tered many difficulties their voyage was prosperous ; — but 
the desired strait was not yet found. 

In the year following the shipwreck of the Cortereals, 
1501, Americus Vespucius, a Florentine in the service of 
the King of Portugal, explored the coast of South America, 
which did not then bear his name, for 600 leagues to the 
south, and from Cape St. Augustine 150 leagues to tht 
west, without, however, falling in with the Rio de la Plata, 
which, when subsequently discovered, was imagined the 
entrance to a strait leading to the Western Ocean. 

Columbus, haunted to his last hour with the desire of 
penetrating to India through the sea which he confidently 
believed lay to the west of the New World, now far ad- 
vanced in life, and suffering the penalties of a premature 
old age, was vainly soliciting at the ungrateful court of Fer- 
dinand and Isabella the means of prosecuting his great 
discovery to a favourable termination, when the Portuguese 
fleet, loaded with the most precious and rare commodities 
of oriental countries, returned to Lisbon. From the do- 
minions of those " gentile nations," existing in the East 
in a state of high civilization and refinement, and where 
commerce, industry, and the arts had long flourished, Spain 
had hitherto derived no advantage. Avarice and ambition 
were aroused by the view of her rival's prosperity ; and 
what had been refused to the prayer of Columbus was 
granted to the hope of fresh conquest, and of spoils from 



tASCO NUNEZ DK BAtfiOA* 29 

that seat of pomp, riches, and elegance which might be 
reached by a nearer and more secure path that should 
belong exclusively to Spain. Columbus accordingly ob- 
tained a small armament, but once more failed in his main 
object, though he made several important discoveries* 
The issue of this last voyage was, however, most disas- 
trous to himself; and, foiled and baffled, persecuted and 
heart-broken, he abandoned for ever his darling scheme of 
pursuing that grand discovery of which the West Indies 
and the American continent now appeared to him but the 
first step. 

In the years immediately subsequent, many discoveries 
were made on the Atlantic coasts of America, sometimes 
tvhen the adventurers were in pursuit of wild and fantastic 
objects. Among the wonders of the New World was the 
Fountain of Youth, situated, according to Indian tradition, 
In the fabled island of Bimini, and possessing the power of 
renewing youth and restoring vigour to whoever dipped in 
its watersi ll^ is but fair to suppose that some of these 
marvellous legends were employed by the adventurers as 

f)ious frauds to engage their mutinous but credulous fol- 
owers in dangerous and difficult enterprises. While in 
search of this marvellous fountain, Juan Ponce discovered 
the blooming coast which he named Florida. But, amid 
many discoveries, no nearer approach was made to that 
ocean which, it was now dear to demonstration, must wash 
the western shores of the new continent, as it was unques-* 
tionably ascertained that the east coast of China was 
bounded by an open sea. 

The discovery made in 1513 by Vasco Nunez de Balboa, 
governor of a colony established at Santa Maria in Darien, 
Was confirmation beyond dispute. He had seen this oceaa 
with his eyes, and had plunged into its waves. The de» 
«ire of gold, the main object of all the subordinate adven* 
turers, was the ultimate cause of the discovery of the South 
Sea. Vasco Nunez, a m&a of tal«nts, and of the highejit 
courage and capacity, was one of the most illustrious of 
the companions of Columbus. While living at bis iitthi 
government he made many incursions into the interior, mid, 
%tmg of a free and |^nerous nature, he olteii gaiii^ the 
j>ood-will of the eaciques whom he had con<|UQrej^ H« 
«J3d IsB f>Il()wer« m tiiese pjredatoiy adveptitr^* h^d ike" 



2G FURTHER DISCOVERIES. 

acquired a considerable quantity of gold, — ^which the In- 
dians justly called the god of the Spaniards, — and also 
knowledge of the interior. The first distinct intimation of 
the mighty ocean to the west was indirectly given while the 
followers of Vasco Nunez quarrelled about the division of 
their spoils. "Why," exclaimed a young cacique, indig- 
nantly throwing the gold out of the scales, — " why quar- 
rel for this trash 1 If you are so passionately fond of gold, 
as for its sake to abandon your own country, and disturb 
the tranquillity of ours, I will lead you to a region where 
the meanest utensil is formed of this metal which seems 
80 much the object of your admiration." Balboa eagerly 
caught at the indication, and, with incredible hardship, 
crossed the Isthmus of Darien, that great glen of tbs New 
World, and, from the summit where Captain Drake after- 
ward stood, beheld the South Sea rolling below, and 
stretching away in boundless perspective. Coming to a 
vast bay, which he named, the Gulf of St. Michael, Balboa, 
displaying a banner, marched knee-deep imo the rushing 
tide, and took possession of all those seas and shores. He 
exacted contributions in gold and provisions ; and being 
told by the natives of a country to the south where the 
people possessed abundance of gold, and used beasts -of 
burden, the rude figure of the lama traced on the beach 
suggested to him the camel, the slave of man in the East, 
and confirmed him in the opinion of the close vicinity of 
the East Indies. Tidings of this great discovery were 
immediately transmitted to Spain, and received with de- 
light and triumph. 

After the premature and violent death of Vasco Nunez, 
the colony on the Darien continued to extend their know- 
ledge of the Pacific, and to make excursions in small barks, 
and fot-m trifling settlements. Larger vessels were soon 
constructed ; and violently taking possession of some 
small islands in the Gulf of St. Michael, which they 
named the Pearl Islands, the Spaniards exacted from their 
conquered subjects a large annual tribute in pearls. Such 
were the first-fruits of European dominion in the Pacific. 

As the hope of reaching the oriental Spice Islands by a 
passage through a strait decayed, the design was formed 
of establishing a regular intercourse across the isthmus, 
and an entrepot between the Old and the New World ; 



EXPEDITION OF MAGELLAN. 27 

and a settlement was formed at Panama, from whence 
vessels were to visit those eastern isles. Th.s scheme also 
failed ; and after the return to Spain of an expedition of 
discovery frustrated by the accidental death of De Soils, 
who, in discovering the Rio de la Plata, was murdered by 
the natives, the voyage of Magellan was undertaken. 

Fernando Magalhanes was a native of Portugal, and 
had served with reputation under Albuquerque in India. 
Disgusted at the neglect shown to him by his own court,* 
he offered his services to Charles V. ; and they were doubly 
welcome, as his cosmography enabled him to demonstrate 
that the Molucca Islands, which he undertook to reach 
through a strait in the American continent, fell within the 
boundary of the pope's grant to Spain. Following the 
approved fashion of too many courts, and discovering 
too late the merit they had contemned, the Portuguese re- 
monstrated through their ambassador, and even tried to bribe 
back the man they had insulted. But Magellan preferred 
the service of Charles V. ; and on the 20th of September, 
1519, the five ships which forn; ?d his squadron sailed from 
San Lucar on one of the most celebrated voyages the 
world had yet witnessed. On the 26th the fleet took in 
wood and water at Teneriffe ; and on the 13th December 
came to anchor in a port they named Santa Lucit., in the 
20th degree of south latitude, and on the coast of Brazil. 
This has sometimes been supposed the Rio de Janeiro of the 
Portuguese, but modem observation does not confirm the 
opinion. The natives immediately surrounded the ships 
in their canoes. They appeared a confiding, credulous, 
good-hearted race, and readily gave provisions in exchange 
for trifling wares. Pigafetta V'icentia, a chronicler of the 
voyage and a lover of the marvellous, says, " It was not 
uncommon to see men of 125 or 140 years old among 
them." They were believed to be without religion, and 
lived in large communities rather than in households, one 
noisy cabin containing a hundred families. Of these ppp- 

f)le we are told, that on first seeing the ships' boats un- 
oosened, they named them the children of the ships, and 
fancied they hud been sucking their mothers. That they 

* In an old voyage we see it stated, that the cause of Magellan's dis- 
gust was being refused an addition to his pay, which would amount to 
about an English crown a month ( 



28 RIS REACHES PORT ST. JULIAN. 

really believed what the structure or the poverty of 
their language indicated to the Spaniards is beyond proba- 
bility. They brought the Spaniards baskets of potatoes, 
or batates, the name they gave to a species of the root now 
known over all the civilized world ; Pigafetta says they 
resembled turnips, and tasted like chestnuts. These na^ 
lives of Brazil had short curly hair. They ate their ene- 
mies, painted their faces and bodies, and the men perfo- 
rated their lips in three places, into which ornaments niade 
of flint were introduced. 

Weighing anchor on the S7th December the squadron 
sailed southward, and on the 11th January reached Cape 
Santa Maria on the Rio de la Plata, and took in wood and 
water. Near this place Juan de Solis had about seven years 
before been murdered by the natives, and the Indians now 
kept at a wary distance from their visiters. Sailing north- 
ward, and touching at different places, the fleet, on Easter 
Eve, 1520, came to an anchor in a port which they named 
St. Julian ; and there Magellan remained for five months. 
Discontent, and at last open mutiny, broke out in the fleet, 
and was only quelled by great,though, in the circumstances 
of Magellan, justifiable severity, as the ringleaders were 
among the Spanish oflicers, who grumbled at the authority 
of a Portuguese commander. 

While the fleet lay in Port St. Julian, the Santiago, one 
of the ships, made an exploratory cruise, and on the 3d 
May, the feast of the Holy Cross, discovered the river 
named Santa Cruz, in which the vessel was afterward 
wrecked. The crew, after suflfering great hardship, ulti- 
mately rejoined the squadron. The long period which the 
fleet passed in Port St. Julian enabled the Spaniards to 
form an intimate acquaintance with the natives. They 
had at first concluded the country uninhabited ; but one 
day an Indian, well made and of gigantic size, came caper- 
ing and singing to the beach, throwing dust upon his head 
in token of amity. A Spanish seaman was sent on shore, 
and directed to imitate the gestures of this merry savage, 
who was of such immense stature that a middle-sized Cas- 
tilian only reached to his waist. He was large in propor- 
tion, and altogether a formidable apparition, his body being 
painted all over, his broad face stained red, save a yellow 
circle about his eyes, A couple of stag's horns adorned 



DRESS AND MANNERS OF THE PATAGONIANS. 29 

each cheek. His favourite colour seemed to he yellow, 
which has a good effect upon a dark ground. His hair was 
covered with a white powder. His clothing, formed of the 
skins of the guanaco,* covered his body from head to foot, 
wrapping round the arms and legs, and was sewed together 
all in one piece, Hke the dress of the ancient Irish. Shoes 
made of the skins of the same animal, which made the feel 
of the Indians appear round and large, procured for these 
tribes the name of Pata-gon3s, or clumsy- hoofed, the origin 
of the term Patagonians. The arms of the Patagonian 
were a stout bow and arrow, — the former strung with gut, 
the latter tipped with flint-stones sharpened. The voice 
of this man was like that of a bull. He went aboard the 
ship of the captain-general, where he appeared quite at his 
ease, ate, drank, and made merry, till, seeing his own image 
in a large looking-glass, he started back in alarm, and threw 
down four Spaniards. The good reception of the first giant 
brought more to the beach, who were taken on board and 
feasted, six of them eating as much as would have satisfied 
twenty Spaniards. The first Indian had pointed to the 
sky, as if to inquire whether the Europeans had descended 
from thence ; and they all wondered that the ships should 
be so large and the men so small. They were in general 
dressed and armed like the first visiter. They had short 
hair, and carried their arrows stuck in a fillet bound round 
their heads. They ran with amazing swiftness, and de- 
voured their meat raw as soon as it was obtained. These 
tribes practised bleeding by rudely cupping the part affected, 
and produced vomiting by thrusting an arrow eighteen 
inches long down the throat of the patient. Magellan 
wished to carry home some of this singular race, and Eu" 
ropean craft was basely opposed to Indian confidence and 
credulity. Fixing on two of the youngest and handsomest 
of the Indians, he presented them with toys, trinkets, and 
iron, till their hands were filled ; then, as ornaments, rings 
of iron were put upon their legs, by which they were fet- 
tered. Their struggles for freedom, and shrieking to their 

* The camelus hunanacus of LinncBiis, a species of lama. Thia 

animal, described by Pigafetta as having the bodj' of a camel, thelegsof 

8 stag, the tail of a horse, and the head aud ears of a mule, excited grcai 

tmazement among the Spanisl seamen. 

C2 



30 DISCOVERY OF THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 

god SetebdSy* only excited the mockery of those who, infe- 
rior in strength, had overmastered them by cunning and 
treachery. Their chief demon could not emancipate them 
from the power of the inhospitable Spaniards. A plan to 
secure two females, that the breed of giants might be in- 
troduced into Europe, failed, and Magellan lost one of his 
company in the infamous stratagem employed to entrap the 
women. 

On the 24th August the fleet left Port St. Julian, after 
taking possession of the country for the King of Spain by 
the customary ceremonial of erecting a cross, — the symbol 
of salvation so often degraded into an ensign of usurpation, 
if not of rapacity and cruelty, in the fairest portions of the 
New World. Two months were afterward passed at the 
ii€wly-discovered Santa Cruz, where the squadron was well 
supplied with wood and water; and on the 18th October 
they stood southward, and discovered Cape de las Virgines, 
and shortly afterward the desired strait. After careful 
examination of the entrance, a council was held, at which 
the pilot, Estevan Gomez, voted for returning to Spain to 
refit ; while the bolder and more resolute spirits were 
decided to proceed and complete their discovery. Magellan 
heard all in silence, and then firmly declared, that were he, 
instead of the slighter hardships already suffered, reduced 
to eat the hides, or the ship's yards, his determination was 
to make good his promise to the emperor. On pain of 
death every one was forbidden to speak of the shortness of 
provisions or of home, — which, though a somewhat un- 
satisfactory mode of stifling the pangs of hunger or the long- 
ings of affection, equally well answered the purpose of the 
captain-general. 

The fleet wer€ now in the strait, and on the first night 
saw on the south shoro many fir^s, and gave that land the 
long familiar name of Tierra del Fuego. As we must 
hereafter follow the navigation of Drake through Magel- 
lan's Straits, it is enough to record, that, thirty-seven days 
daftor he had discovered Cape de las Virgines, Magellan, on 
seeing the South Sea expanding before him, burst into a 
|)assion of tears, and ordered public thanksgiving to be 

* The demon of Caliban's dam, and sa^>osed to bie borrowed by STiaki- 
jpegr« from the aarrative of tlua \toja^«. 



ARCHIPELAGO OF ST. LAZARUS. 31 

made by the fleet. The strait was found to be 110 leagues 
in length. 

The loss of the Santiago, and the desertion of the St. 
Antonio at the eastern entrance, had now reduced the fleet 
to three ships. With these Magellan held a northerly 
course, to reach a milder climate, the crews having already 
suflfered severely Irom extreme cold, and also to escape the 
storms encountered about the western opening of the 
strait. 

On the 24th January, 1521, they discovered un island, 
which was named San Pablo in memory of the last of the 
two captive Patagonians, who died here after receiving bap- 
tism ; and on the 4th February another small island was 
seen, and called Tiburones, or Sharks' Island. The fleet 
had now suffered so much from the want of provisions and 
fresh water, and from the ravages of the scurvy, that, 
depressed by their condition and prospects, they named the 
next discoveries the Unfortunate Islands. The sufferings 
of the crews, for three months after entering the Pacific, 
are too painful to be related. Twenty died of mere ex- 
haustion, or of scurvy ; and the condition of the remainder, 
reduced to chew the leather found about the ropes of the 
fship, and to drink salt water, was one of the severest dis- 
tress. Their only solace was a series of delightful weather ; 
fair winds carrying them smoothly onwards. To this cir- 
cumstance the South Sea owes its name of Pacific, a title 
which many succeeding seamen have thought it ill deserved. 
Now we first hear of Europeans seeing from the Pacific the 
star of the South Pole. On the 6th of March land was 
discovered ; at first three fair and apparently fertile islands, 
inhabited and likely to afford succour to the fleet. The 
Indians immediately came off to the ships in their canoes, 
bringing cocoanuts, yams, and rice. On these poor island- 
ers, whose thievish propensities obtained for this group the 
appellation of the Ladrones, Magellan took signal vengeance 
for small offence. A skiff was stolen from the side of the 
Capitana, or admiral's ship, upon which Magellan landed 
with ninety men, burnt huts, plundered provisions, and 
killed some of the natives, who are described as a simple, 
and harmless, unresisting race. From the 16th to the 18th 
of March other islands were discovered, forming the group 
then called the Archipelago of Su La^^arus, but now known 



32 MANNERS OF THE ISLANDERS. 

as part of the Philippines. The inhaoitants were found to 
be a friendly and comparatively civilized people. They 
wore ornaments of gold ; and, though otherwise nearly 
naked, had headdresses of embroidered silk. They were 
tattooed, and perfumed their bodies with aromatized oils. 
They cultivated the land, raised crops, and' formed stores of 
spices. On the 25th the fleet left Humunu, the principal 
island of the group, and afterward touched at different 
islands of the same archipelago. The picture given of these 
islanders oy the early navigators is especially attractive and 
interesting, from being the first account obtained by Euro- 
peans of the tribes of Polynesia ; but, in the voyages of 
Drake and Dampier, we shall meet with them again un- 
changed in any respect, and under the observation of more 
enlightened and accurate historians than the credulous 
Pigafetta. 

At a small island named Mazagua, and supposed to be 
the Limasava of modern charts, a slave on board the fleet, 
by name Enrique and a native of Sumatra, was able to 
make himself unaerstood by the natives, and acted as the 
interpreter of Magellan in explaining the reasons of the 
visit of the Spaniards, and the terms of peaceful commerce 
and friendly intercourse which they wished to establish 
between themselves and the islanders. Mutual presents 
were made, and ceremonial visits exchanged ; the captain- 
general doing every thing likely to impress the Indians with 
the power and superiority of Europeans, and the dignity 
of the king his master. At this island the chief, with 
whom Magellan formed a close friendship, was served in 
vessels of porcelain and of gold. The Spaniards saw can- 
dles made of gums, rolled up in palm-leaves. The chief, 
or king, was a remarkably handsome man, of olive com- 
plexion, with long black hair ; his body elegantly tattooed, 
and perfumed with gums and vegetable oils. He was 
adorned with gold earrings, and on each finger wore three 
rings.* About his middle he wore a tunic of cotton cloth 
embroidered with silk and gold, which descended to the 
knees ; and wrapped around his head was a turban or veil 

* There is a learned dispute among the old critics on the early 
voyages, whether the Latin narrative is here accurately translated, 
-j-ri.igs of gold on the fingers,— instead of ai)ots of iSold on the 
teeth. 



ISLAND OF ZEBU. 38 

of silk. A long dagger worn at the side, with a handle of 
gold, and a scabbard of exquisitely-carved wood, completed 
the handsome costume of this semi-barbaric prince. At 
this island we first hear of the betel and areca. At meals 
the chief sat cross-legged in the Turkish fashion ; and, 
Pigafetta says, made the sign of the cross before eating, 
though entirely ignorant of Christianity ; — before drinking, 
the king always raised his hands to heaven. His native 
title was rajah. The people here acknowledged one Su- 
preme Being whom they called Abba, and whom they wor- 
shipped lifting their heads and clasped hands towards 
henven. Magellan was at this time first seized with the 
violent desire of making proselytes, in which he easily 
succeeded. A cross was erected on a hill-top, which, 
the natives were told, if duly adored would defend thera 
from lightning, tempest, and all calamities. Such were the 
first Christian missionary labours among these Indinn 
islands. Gold was seen here in some abundance, vessels 
and ornaments being made of it ; but iron was more valued, 
a native preferring a knife to a double pistole offered in ex- 
change for his rice and bananas. The commodities brouglit 
to the ships were hogs, goats, fowls, rice, millet, maize, 
cocoanuts, oranges, citrons, ginger, and figs. On the re- 
quest of the rajah, part of the Spanish crew went on shore 
to help in gathering in the rice-harvest ; but the poor 
prince, who had assisted on the previous day at mass, and 
afterward at a banquet given by Magellan, had either .sur- 
feited himself, or had got so drunk that all business waft 
deferred till the next day, when the seamen dischargetl this 
neighbourly office, and in two days saw harvest-home in 
Mazagua. 

On the 5th of April the fleet sailed, the king attending it 
in his pirogue. Being unable to keep up with the squadron, 
he was taken on board with his retinue ; and on the 7th 
April they entered the harbour of Zebu, — an island memo- 
rable from the death of Magellan, and as the place where 
the first settlement of the Spaniards in the Philippines was 
afterward made. The accounts which the captain-general 
had received of the riches and power of the King of Zebu 
made it a point of good policy to impress that prince and 
his subjects with the greatness of the Spaniards. The 
ships entered the harbour with all their colours flying ; and 



34 CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 

a grand salute from all the cannon caused great consterna- 
tion among the islanders. An ambassador, attended by the 
interpreter Enrique, was sent on shore, charged with a 
message importing the high consideration which the King 
of Spain, the greatest monarch on earth, and his captain- 
general Magellan, entertained for the Kingof Zebii. He 
also announced that the fleet had come to take in provisions, 
and give merchandise in exchange, and that the captain- 
general wished to pay his respects to a prince he had heard 
so handsomely spoken of by the chief of Mazagua. The 
king, who acted through his ministers, gave the strangers 
welcome, but would not dispense with the payment of cer- 
tain port-dues, which, however, were passed from when he 
came to know that the " greatest monarch on earth" would 
pay dues to no man ; and that, though his servants came 
in peace, they were prepared for war. The representations 
of a Moorish merchant then in the port, who had heard of 
Portuguese conquest in the East, swayed the chief of Zebu ; 
and in a few days, every requisite ceremony being observed, 
a treaty offensive and defensive was formed. The descrip- 
tion of this people is curious and interesting: — In manners 
and in social condition they did not appear to differ from 
tlie natives of Mazagua. Their religion, whatever it w'as, 
sat lightly upon them ; for in a few days Magellan, whether 
as politician or good Catholic, had converted and baptized 
half their number. The rite was administered on shore, 
where a rude chapel was erected. Mass was performed, 
and every ceremony was observed which could deepen the 
impression of sanctity. The royal family, the Rajah of 
Mazagua, and many persons of rank were among the first 
converts. The king received the name of Carlos, in honour 
of the emperor. Among the sudden Christians were the 
queen and forty ladies of the court. Baptism was also 
administered to the eldest princess, the daughter of the 
king and wife of his nephew and heir-apparent, a young 
and beautiful woman. She usu^ally wore a white veil or 
mantilla which covered her whole body, and on her head a 
tiara of date-leaves. 

A miraculous cure, performed on the king's brother, who 
on being baptized instantly recovered of a dangerous illness, 
completed Magellan's triumph. Pigafetta gravely relates, 
" we were all ocular witnesses to this miracle." The 
fashionable religion of the court spread rapidly. The idols 



BATTLE OF MATAN. 36 

Were broken, the cross set up, and in less than fourteen 
days from the arrival of the squadron the whole inhabitants 
of Zebu and the neignbounng islands were baptized, save 
those of one infidel village, which the captain-general burnt 
in punishment of their obstinacy, erecting a cross amid 
the ashes and the ruins he had made. Magellan now 
regularly attended mass on shore, and the queen and 
her ladies also repaired in state to the chapel. She was 
preceded by three young girls bearing her three hro?id 
umbrella-shaped hats formed of date-leaves; she was dressed 
in black and white, and wore a veil of silk striped with gold, 
which covered her head and shoulders. Her ladies wore 
the same sort of screen, but were otherwise naked, save a 
girdle or short petticoat of palm-cloth. Their hair hung 
loose. Magellan sprinkled these fair Christians with rose- 
water, in which gallantry they appeared to delight. 

Among other customs, the Zebuians drr.nk their wine by 
sucking it up through a reed. At an entertainment given 
by the prince, the heir-apparent, four singing-girls were in- 
troduced. One beat a drum, another the kettle-drum, a 
third two small kettle-drums, and the fourth struck cymbals 
against each other. They kept excellent time, and the 
effect was pleasing. The kettle-drums were of metal, and 
in form and effect somewhat like European bells. The 
young girls played on gongs, and the islanders had another 
musical instrument resembling the bagpipe. Their houses 
were raised on posts, and divided into chambers, the open 
space below serving as a shed for the domestic animals and 
poultry. Provisions were plentiful, and the Indians every- 
where showed hospitality to their visiters, constantly in- 
viting them to eat and drink. They appeared to enjoy the 
pleasures of the table, at which they often remained for 
four or live hours. 

His majesty of Zebu had been somewhat of a self-seeker 
in his sudden conversion. Reasons of state had mingled 
with his faith, and tainted its purity. He had been told, or 
had flattered himself, that a change to the religion of the 
Spaniards would render him invincible to his enemies, and 
was now about to prove his strength and his friendship for 
these'new allies in vanquishing the chief of Matan, a neigh- 
bouring island. This chief had refused to pay a tribute 
haughtily demanded by Magellan in token of fealty and 
submission to the emperor, replying* with coxnmendablo 



36 DEATH OF Magellan* 

spirit, that as strangers he wished to show the Spaniard^ 
courtesy, and sent them a present, but he owed no ob» 
dience to those he had never seen before, and would pay 
them none. This spirited reply greatly incensed the cap* 
tain^genetal, now above measure elated with the success 
that had attended his late labours, apostolic and politicah 
He forthwith resolved to punish the insolent chief of Matan^ 
and refused to listen to the dissuasions of his officers, and 
particularly those of Juan Serrano, who remonstrated with 
him on the impolicy of this design. 

On the 27th of April, attended by forty-nine Spaniards 
clothed in mail, the attack was begun on from 1500 to 
SOOO, pr even 6000 Indians, — ^so variously are they esti- 
mated. The King of Zebu attended his ally with a force { 
but his active services were declined, Magellan calculating 
upon an easy victory, and he remained in his boats. The 
battle, between crossbows and musketry, and lances and 
arrows, raged for many hours. The Indians, btave from 
the onset, rose in courage towards evening, when they had 
become familiarized with the Spanish fire, which did com* 
paratively little execution. They had now learned to take 
aim at the faces and legs of the Spaniards, which were not 
protected by mail, and had succeeded in cutting off and 
surrounding a party detached by Magellan to burn a vil- 
lage. The islanders, who had conducted themselves all 
day with the greatest firmness, now pressed closer and 
harder upon the Spaniards, who fell into disorder, and gave 
way on all sides. Magellan was wounded in the leg by a 

Eotsoned arrow. He was also repeatedly struck on the 
ead with stones ; his helmet was twice dashed off; and 
his sword-arm being disabled, he could no longer defend 
himself. His men were hurrying in disorder to the boats, 
and his new Christian ally still sat gazing on the combat, 
whieh had doubtless produced a considerable change in his 
notions of Spanish prowess. The fight continued down to 
the water's edge. Six or seven Spaniards were all that 
now remained with their chief. They fought bravely, till« 
pressed and hemmed in on all sides b^ a multitude, an In- 
<|ian struck Magellan on the leg. He fell on his face, and 
•tones and lances soon terminated his life. " Thus," say 
the early accounts, " perished our guide, our light, and our 
ntDport." Though the rash warmre waged by Magellan 



TREACHERY OF tHE ISLANMRS. St 

On the unoffending chief of Matan, who only maintained 
his own independence, cannot be defended on any principle 
of justice j the premature and violent death, in the very 
middle of his career, of a navigator and discoverer second 
only to Columbus and Gama, will ever be a cause of melan- 
choly regret. Magellan was eminently endowed v»^ith the 
qualities necessary to a mah engaged in adventures like 
those which he undertook. He had the true and rare talent 
of command ; being no less beloved than respected by the 
crews, though Spanish pride and national jealousy made 
the officers sometimes murmur against his authority. He 
was a skilfiil and experienced seaman ; prompt, resolute, 
and inflexible, often carrying perseverance to tne point of ob- 
stinacy. His former voyage to India, when he had reached 
Malacca, and the bold navigation he had just made, entitle 
Magellan to be named the first circumnavigator of the globes 
Eight Spaniards fell with their leader, and twenty-two 
"were wounded. Though tempting offers were made to 
the people of Matan to give Up the body of the captain- 
general, they would not part with so proud a trophy of 
victory. The result of the fatal battle of the 27th dispelled 
the illusions of the Christian king, and his opinion of the 
superiority of the Spaniards fell more rapidly than it had 
arisen. Hfe wished to make his peace with the offended 
chief of Matan ; and with the help of the treacherous slave 
Enrique, who on the death of Magellan his master was im- 
properly if not cruelly treated, the Christian Carlos formed 
a plan of seizing the ships, arms, and merchandise, and, to 
feffect this, of murdering the crews in cold blood. The 
officers were invited on shorfe to receive, previous to their 
departure, a rich present of jewels prepared before the 
death of Magellan for his most Catholic majesty. Thes6 
were to be delivered at a solemn banquet. Some of th6 
officers suspected treachery, and among others Juan Ser- 
rano ; but they landed to the number of twenty-eights 
From the king's brother, on whom the miracle had been 
wrought, taking aside the almoner, and leadittg him into 
his own house while the others proceeded to the banquet^ 
Juan Carvallo, the pilot, and anothei* Spaniard, confirmed 
in their original suspicion, returned to the shipSi They 
had scarcely reached them, when the shrieks of the l^ictims 
livere heard from the banqueting-house ; and the hathes 
t) 



38 BOHOL AND BORNEO* 

were immediately seen dragging their dead bodies to the 
water-side. The anchors were instantly raised, and several 
shots fired upon the town, the ships meanwhile crowding 
all sail to leave this fatal harbour. At this time Captain 
Juan Serrano, who had landed with extreme reluctance, 
was seen dragged to the shore, wounded, and tied hand 
and foot. Earnestly he entreated his countrymen to desist 
from firing, and to ransom him from this cruel and treache- 
rous people. They turned a deaf ear to his prayers ; and 
Serrano, second in command, as in ability and courage, to 
Magellan, was thus left at the mercy of the islanders, while, 
kneeling on the beach, he implored his countrymen not to 
abandon him. Pigafetta relates, that " finding all his en- 
treaties were vain, he uttered deep imprecations, and 
appealed to the Almighty at the great day of judgment to 
exact account of his soul from Juan Carvallo, his fellow- 
gossip." "His cries were, however, disregarded," con- 
tinues the narrator, " and we set sail without ever hearing 
what became of him." This unmanly and cruel abandon- 
ment of a friend, commander, and countryman is imputed 
to the hope Carvallo entertained of succeeding to the com« 
mand on the death of Serrano, the captains of the other 
ships being already massacred. It is but justice to the 
people of Zebu to mention, that one narrative of the voyage 
imputes the indiscriminate massacre of the Spaniards to a 
quarrel arising between them and the natives, from the 
former insulting the women. Some years afterward, it was 
incidentally heard, that instead of being all murdered, eight 
of the Spaniards were carried to China and sold for slaves* 
But the truth was never clearly ascertained. 

The armament of Magellan next touched at the island 
of Bohol, where, finding their numbers so much reduced by 
sickness and the battle of Matan, they burned one of the 
ships, first removing the guns and stores into the others, 
now commanded by Carvallo. At Zebu they had already 
heard of the Moluccas, their ultimate destination. They 
touched at Chippit in Mindanao on their way, and after- 
ward at Cagayan Sooloo. At Puluan they first heard of 
Borneo. Having procured a pilot, they reached that island 
on the 8th July, 1521, and anchored next day at three 
leagues from the city, which was computed to contaire 
twenty-five thousand families. It was built within high* 



'manners and customs. 39 

water mark, and the houses were raised on posts. At full 
tide the inhabitants communicated by boats, the women 
thus selling their various commodities. The rehgion of 
Borneo was the Mohammedan. The island abounded in 
wealth, and the people exhibited a high degree of civiliza- 
tion and refinement. Letters were known, and many of 
the arts flourished. The king, though attended only by 
females, employed ten men as secretaries in state affairs. 
The people had brass coin in circulation in their commerce, 
and they distilled arrack from rice. 

Presents were here exchanged, and the ceremonial of in- 
troduction and the offer of a treaty of commerce were made 
and accepted. Elephants were sent to the water-side for 
the Spanish embassy ; and a feast of veal, capons, and 
fowls of several kinds was placed before them, served in 
elegant porcelain dishes. They were supplied with golden 
spoons to eat their rice ; in their sleeping apartment wax 
flambeaux burned in silver candlesticks, and men kept 
watch all night to supply with oil the lamps which also 
illuminated the chamber. The king was a stout man about 
forty. When admitted to an interview, the deputation, on 
the curtain of the royal saloon drawing up, found him sur- 
rounded by three hundred guards armed with poniards. — 
He sat at a table with a little child, and was chewing betel. 
Close behind him were ranged his female attendants. He 
received the Spanish gifts with merely a slight movement 
of the head, discovering no. eager or undignified curiosity, 
and returned presents of brocade and cloth of gold and 
silver. The courtiers were all naked, save a piece of cloth 
of gold round their waists. On their fingers they wore 
many rings ; and their poniards had handles of gold set 
with gems. The curtain of the royal saloon, drawTi up 
when the ceremony began, at the conclusion dropped, and 
all was over. Pigafetta asserts that the king had two 
pearls as large as pullets' eggs, and so perfectly round, that, 
placed on a polished table, they rolled continually. The 
natural productions of Borneo were rice, sugar canes, gin- 
ger, camphor, gums, wax ; and fruits and vegetables in 
great variety. The people were peculiarly skilful in the 
manufacture of porcelain, which formed a principal article 
of their merchandise. Their pirogues were ingeniously 
fprmed, and the state ones carved on the prows and gilt, 



40 THE MOLUCCA ISLES, 

The Spaniards, who seldom or never left any port they 
visited on good terms with the people, in real or affected 
alarm for an attack, seized several junks in the harbour, in 
which they knew there was rich booty, and made some 
persons of quality captives, in reprisal for three seamen 
absent or detained in the town. 

The authority of Carvallo, which had never been re- 
spected, was now set aside by the choice of Espinosa as 
captain-general. Sebastian del Cano, a Biscayan, was 
also made a commander, and the Spaniards forthwith com- 
menced what more resembled a privateering cruise than a 
peaceful voyage of discovery and traffic, pillaging all the 
gmall vessels they met, of whatever nation, and holding the 
passengers to ransom, or making them prisoners, sometimes 
after obstinate engagements. Goipg near several islands, 
they touched at one, and seized two natives, whom they 
compelled to act as their pilots to the long-sought Moluccas, 
which they at length reached, and on the 8th November 
anchored at Tidore. They met with a hospitable and kind 
reception. The ships were visited by Almanzor, the king 
of Tidore ; a traffic in spices was commenced, and a fac-» 
tory established on shore, where trade soon became brisk, 
spices being readily given in exchange for red cloth, drink- 
ing-glasses, knives, and hatchets. The king, Almanzor, 
was a Mohammedan, to which faith the conquests of the 
Moors, at a period comparatively recent, had converted as 
many of the native princes of the East Indian islands as 
they had stripped of their power. The King of Tidore was 
but a late convert. 

The Molucca Islands were found to be five in number, 
lying on the west coast of a large island called Gilolo.- 
They were named Tidore, Terrenate, Motir, Bachian, and 
Maquian. They are seen from each other, and one was 
distinguished by pyramidical mountains, presumed to be 
volcanic. They were governed each by its own prince.- — 
The spices, produced were nutmegs, cloves, mace, ginger, 
and cinnamon, which grew almost spontaneously. The 
other natural productions were much the same as in the 
Archipelago of St. Lazarus. The houses were built on 
piles or posts, and fenced round with cane hedges. In the 
Island of Bachian a species of bird of exquisite beauty was 
found, which the natives called " the bird of God," saying 



HOMEWARD VOYAGE. 41 

it came from Paradise. This bird and the clove-tree, of 
which Pigafetta gives a flowery description, are now well 
known. By the middle of December, from the quantity 
obtained, and the plunder previously made in these seas, 
the spice cargoes were completed ; and the Spanish com- 
mander, ready to depart, v/as charged with letters and 
presents, consisting of the rarest productions of the island, 
sent to the emperor his master by the King of Tidore, his 
most Catholic majesty's faithful ally, if not sworn vassal. 
When ready to sail, the Trinidad was found unfit for sea ; 
and the Vitoria proceeded alone on the homeward voyage, 
with a crew of forty-seven Europeans, thirteen Indians, 
and also Molucca pilots. These islanders entertained the 
seamen with many a marvellous oriental legend. While 
steering for Mindanao, before coming to the Moluccas, 
Pigafetta had heard of a tribe of hairy men, very fierce and 
warlike, who inhabited a cape on the island Benaian, 
wearing long daggers, and consuming the hearts of their 
prisoners raw with a sauce of lemon or orange juice ; and 
by the Molucca pilots he was told of a people whose ears 
were so long that the one served them for a mattress and the 
other for a coverlet.* He also heard of a tree on which 
birds perch, of size and strength to pounce upon an ele- 
phant, and bear him up into the air. 

The Vitoria touched at different places in the voyage to 
Spain, and after a mutiny and the loss of twenty-one men, 
passed the Cape of Good Hope on the 6th May, 1523. — 
Being reduced to the greatest extremity for want of provi- 
sions, and choosing racier to fall into the hands of the 
Portuguese than to perish by famine, they anchored on the 
9th July, a Wednesday according to their reckoning, in the 
harbour of St. Jago, where the time proved Thursday, and 
the 10th, — a difference and loss of a day which, though 
very easily accounted for, was extremely perplexing to the 
first of the circumnavigators, who, setting out from the west, 
returned by the east. A certain quantity of provisions was 
obtained before the quarter from whence the ship came was 

* The classic reader will be amused by the coincidence between the 
marvellous legends of the Molucca pilots and the wonders related by a 
story-teller of reihoter antiquity and higher authority, Strabo, who "re- 
counts this among other legends brought from the East by the soldiers of 
Alexander the Great- 

D3 



43 THE VITORIA AND TRINIDAD, 

suspected ; but the truth being discovered, the boat on th« 
third trip Avas seized, and the Spaniards in the ship, not 
)tinob«,ervant spectators, seeing preparations making for an 
attack, crowded sail and escaped from the island. 

On the 6th September, 1522, after a voyage of three 
years' duration, in which 14,160 leagues of sea had been 
traversed, Sebastiain del Cano brought the Vitoria into St, 
Lucar, and on the 8th the vessel went up the river to 
■Seville. Pigafetta, from whom every historian of this re- 
markable voyage borrows so largely, concludes his narrative 
.almost poetically : — " These were mariners who surely 
merited an eternal memory more justly than the Argonauts 
of old. The ship, too, undoubtedly deserved far better to 
be placed among the stars than the ship Argo, which from 
Greece discovered the great sea ; for this our wonderful 
ship, taking her departure from the Straits of Gibraltar, and 
galling southward through the great ocean towards the 
Antarctic Pole, and then turning west, not by sailing back, 
but proceeding constantly forward ; so compassing the 
globe, until she marvellously regained her native country, 
Spain," The crew on reaching Seville walked barefooted 
in procession to two churches to return thanks for their safe 
return, eighteen being now all the Europeans that survived 
of the crew of the Vitoria. The ship itself became the 
theme of poets and ;romancers, and was carefully pre- 
served. The commander, Sabastian del Cano, escaped 
the neglect which was the common fate of all Spanish dis- 
coverers. He was liberally rewarded, and obtained letters^. 
patent of nobility. ^. 

The Trinidad was less fortunate than its consort. After 
being refittqd, she attempted to recross the Pacific, but was 
nearly wrecked ; and being driven back, the crew were made 
prisoners by the Portuguese, whose jealousy of Spanish 
enterprise in these parts was now violently inflamed by the 
late transactions at the Moluccas. 

The voyage of Magellan was attended by many import-.- 
ant results ; it demonstrated the existence of a communl- 
tion between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and as- 
certained the southern boundary of the American continent. 
In its progress Magellan discovered the Unfortunate Islands, 
several islands of the group of the Ladrones, and the Ar^ 
chipelago of St, Lazarus j he also de,moAstrated ,t)ie forjcn 



EXPEDITION OF LOYASA. 43 

jof the earth, and accomplished what had baffled, even on 
the threshold, every navigator who had made the same 
attempt. 

All the sea and land discovered by Magellan were claimed 
by Spain as its sole possession, — an assumption of right 
which the other European states, and especially Portugal, 
were unwilling to acknowledge. The passage to the Mo- 
luccas and those islands themselves, the principal advan- 
tage gained by the discoveries of Magellan, were claimed 
by the double title of the pope's grant and the alleged ces- 
sion of the native princes to the King of Castile. John 
III., king of Portugal, was equally tenacious of his rights. 
The old dispute of the boundary and partition-line was re- 
newed, and referred to a convocation of learned cosmogra- 
phers and skilful pilots, who met at Badajos, and parted 
as they met ; the commissioners of both parties being alike 
tenacious of the claimsof their royal constituents. The re- 
spective governments were thus left to establish their right 
of possession as they found most convenient ; and Spain 
lost no time in fitting out another expedition to establish 
her claims, and secure to the utmost the advantages of 
Magellan's discovery. 

This armament consisted of four ships, of which Garcia 
Jofre de Loyasa, a knight of Malta, was appointed captain- 
general ; Sebastian del Cano, and others of the survivors 
of Magellan's voyage, going out under his command. The 
squadron sailed from Corunna on the 24th July, 1525^ and 
was expected to reach the Spice Islands by Magellan's 
Straits in no long time. Every precaution was taken to 
ensure the celerity and success of the voyage, and the ex- 
pedition at first proceeded prosperously. 

To the still imperfect state of nautical science we must 
impute many of the subsequent disasters of Loyasa. The 
strait so lately discovered was already the subject of un- 
certainty and dispute ; Sebastian del Cano's vessel was 
wrecked near Cape de las Virgines ; the captain-general 
was separated* from the fleet ; the other ships were injured ; 

* The Spaniards claim a notable discovery from this separation of the 
fleet. The St. Lesmes, a barque commanded by Francisco de Hozes, is 
reported to have been driven to 55° south in the gale, and the captain 
.affirmed that he had seen the end of the land of Tierra del Fuego. This 
.some Spanish historians of Magellan's expedition suppose Cape Horn i 



44 NEW GUINEA. 

through the strait, which it was April before they entered, 
the passage proved tedious and dismal, and several of the 
seamen died of the extreme cold. The stupendous scenery 
described on this passage presents many of those gigantic 
features which nature assumes in the New World. On the 
26th May the fleet entered the South Sea, but was almost 
immediately dispersed in a storm. One of the vessels 
steered for New Spain, the others held north-west. Both 
commanders were now sick ; and four days after crossing 
the line, on the 3d of August, 1526, Loyasa died, and Del 
Cano, who had braved and weathered so many dangers, ex- 
pired in a few days afterward. Alonzo de Salazar, who 
succeeded to the command of the fleet, steered for the La- 
drones, and, in 14° north, discovered St. Bartholomew. 
Between Magellan's Strait and the Ladrones thirty-eight 
of the seamen died, and the whole crew were so enfeebled 
that it was found necessary to entrap eleven Indians to work 
the pumps. Salazar, the third commander died ; and it 
was November before they came to anchor at Zamafo, a 
port in an island belonging to their ally, the King of 
Tidore. Disputes immediately arose between the Spaniards 
and the Portuguese governor settled at Terrenate, and a 
petty maritime warfare ensued, which was prosecuted for 
many years with various degrees of activity and success, — 
the people of Tidore supporting the Spaniards, and those 
of Terrenate the Portuguese settlers. In the course of 
this year, 1526, Papua, long since called New Guinea, was 
discovered by Don Jorge de Meneses, in his passage from 
Malacca to the Moluccas, of v^'^hich he had been appointed 
governor by the court of Portugal. About the same time 
a Portuguese captain, Diego da Rocha, discovered Se- 
queira, believed the modern Pelew Islands. In the course of 
the summer of 1527, the fourth commander of Loyasa's 
squadron died, or, it is alleged, was taken off by poison at 
the instigation of the Portuguese governor ; and the prin- 
cipal ship was so much damaged in repeated actions, that it 
was found unfit for the homeward voyage. 

while the geographers of other nations name it Staten Land, the certain 
discovery of which is, however, of much later date. The extent of pro- 
jecting land between the eastern entrance to the sti-ait and Cape Horn 
makes it improbable that it could have been seen by the crew of the St, 
Lesmes 



VOYAGE OF SAAVEDRA. 45 

In the same season the celebrated' Hernan Cortes 
equipped three ships for the Spice Isles, which sailed from 
New Spain on All Saints' Day, under the command of his 
kinsman Alvaro de Saavedra. Two of the vessels were almost 
immediately separated from the admiral, who, pursuing his 
course alone, after leaving the Ladrones, discovered on 
Twelfth Day a cluster of islands, to which, from this cir- 
cumstance, he gave the name of the Islands de los Reyes. 
The men here were naked, save a piece of matting about 
their middle, — tall, robust, and swarthy, with long hair and 
rough beards. They wore broad hats as a shelter from the 
sun, had large canoes, and were armed with lances of cane. 
When Saavedra reached the Moluccas, which was in little 
more than a two months' voyage, his direct approach from 
New Spain would scarcely be credited. He was imme- 
diately attacked by the Portuguese, but was supported by 
his countrymen, the residue of Loyasa's fleet, who had now 
built a brigantine. After completing his cargo, he sailed for 
New Spain on the 3d June, an eastward voyage, that for a 
series of years baffled every successive navigator. Land 
was reached, which the Spaniards named Isla del Oro, from 
believing that gold abounded. There is, however, reason 
to conclude that this was Papua, afterward called New 
Guinea, from the resemblance between the natives and the 
negroes on the Guinea Coast. They were black, with short 
crisped hair or wool ; and had the features of that distinc- 
tive race of Polynesia, since termed Oceanic negroes, who 
are found in many of the islands scattered throughout the 
vast I*acific, sometimes mixed with the other great family 
by which these islands are peopled, but generally apart. 
Saavedra was driven back to the Moluccas ; nor was his 
second attempt to reach New Spain in the following year 
more fortunate. In that voyage he once more touched at 
Papua. When formerly here he had made three captives. 
On a^ain seeing the beloved shores of their native land, 
two of these poor Indians plunged into the sea while the 
ship was yet distant ; but the third, who was said to be 
more tractable, and had by this time been baptized, re- 
mained to act as ambassador between his new friends and 
his countrymen, and to establish an amicable traffic. When 
the vessel neared the beach, he also leaped into the water ; 
but, without being allowed to land, was at once assailed by 



46 DISCOVERY OF CALIFORNIA, 

his former friends, and murdered, as an outcast and repro- 
bate, in presence of his Christian patrons. A group of 
small islands in 7° north, seen afterward, were, from the 
natives being tattooed or painted, named Los Pintados. 
The people w«re fierce and warlike, and from a canoe boldly 
attacked the ships with showers of stones thrown from 
slings. To the north-east of Los Pintados several low 
inhabited islands were discovered, and named Los Buenos 
Jardines. Saavedra came to anchor here, and the natives 
drew to the shore, waving a flag. A band of men, and a 
female, supposed to have been a sorceress, came on board, 
to enable, it was imagined, the latter to use her skill and 
spells in making discoveries. The natives were light-com- 
plexioned and tattooed. The females were beautiful, with 
agreeable features and long black hair : they wore dresses 
of fine matting. Saavedra, on landing, was met by men 
and women in procession, with tambarines and festal 
songs. These islands afforded abundance of cocoanuts and 
other vegetable productions. 

The commander died soon after leaving the Good Gar- 
dens Islands ; and after vainly attempting to reach New 
Spain, the ship once more returned to the Moluccas. To 
Saavedra is ascribed the bold project of cutting a canal 
from sea to sea through the Isthmus of Darien.* 

In the same year, 1529, the Emperor Charles V., who 
left his subjects in the Moluccas to defend themselves as 
they could, mortgaged, or ceded to Portugal his right to 
those islands for 350,000 ducats. Though several voyages 
were attempted as private enterprises, they all proved abor- 
tive, and the passage by Magellan's Straits, from its storms 
and terrors, was abandoned: The discoveries opening in 
other quarters likewise contributed to divert attention from 
this point of enterprise. 

The peninsula of California was about this time discov- 

* This project, which has been fifty times revived, very earl}' engaged 
tlie attention of Spain. It is discussed in Jos. Acosta's Moral and Phy- 
sical History of the Indies, — who urges against the design an opinion 
which is not even yet either established or abandoned, namely, that one 
sea being higher than the other, the undertaking must be attended by 
some awful calamity to the globe. Very recent observations, however, 
made under the patronage of Bolivar, seem to prove that either a canal 
or a railway is quite practicable See Royal Society Transactions foi* 
1630. 



EXPEDITION OF VILLALOBOS. 47 

ered by Cortes. Its gulf and outer shores had been exam- 
ined ; new settlements were also every year rising in Mex- 
ico and Peru, which engrossed the cares of the Spanish 
governor ; and it was not till the year 1542 that, forgetting 
the cession or mortgage to Portugal, a squadron was once 
more fitted out, destined for the Archipelago of St. Laza 
rus. This was the work of the Viceroy of Mexico, and the 
command was intrusted to his brother-in-law, Ruy Lopez 
de Villalobos. He discovered the island of St. Thomas, in 
latitude 18° 30' north, and a cluster of low islands, which 
Were named El Coral. On the 6th January, 1543, at 35 
leagues from the Coral Isles, the fleet passed ten islands, 
which, from their fertile appearance, they called The Gar- 
dens (Los Jardines). The squadron coasted along Min- 
danao, making some miscalculation in their course ; and on 
reaching Sarrangan, an island near the south part of Min- 
danao, determined there to fix that settlement which was 
the chief purpose of their expedition. This the natives, 
though at first hospitable and friendly, stoutly opposed ; but 
the captain-general, having already taken formal possession 
of all the islands for the emperor, determined to make good 
his point, and the Indians were subdued, and retreated to 
other islands. Here the Spaniards raised their first harvest 
of Indian corn in the Phihppines,— the name now given by 
Villalobos to all these islands, in compliment to the Prince- 
royal of Spain. The inhabitants of several of the islands 
in a short time became more friendly ; traffic was estab- 
lished ; and Spanish success once more excited the jealous 
apprehensions of the Portuguese, and begot numerous petty 
intrigues among the native chiefs who favoured the differ- 
ent European leaders. In the progress of events, the con- 
duct of Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was marked by perfidy to 
the Indian alUes he had gained, and treachery to Spain. 
In despite of the remonstrances and honourable counsels of 
his officers, he accepted unworthy terms of personal safety 
from the Portuguese, one condition being a passage home. 
On his return to Europe by the east, in a Portuguese ship, 
he died at Amboyna, of sickness and chagrin, — thus eluding 
the justice of Spain, which he had betrayed. 

The certainty of conquering the Philippines had been 
demonstrated even by the treachery of Villalobos ; and, as 
another preparatory step, search was made on the exteriof 



48 EXPEDITION Of LEGASPL 

coast of California for a harbour, as an intermeidiate poft of 
place of shelter to ships passing between those islands and 
New Spain, the Straits of Magellan being still abandoned 
in despair. The features of the various expeditions under- 
taken for many subsequent years, while the course lay 
through those fatal straits, may be described in few words. 
"Some missed the entrance, but most were wrecked on the 



The commencement of a new reign is a period prover- 
, bial for energy and activity, whether the implement wielded 
by the ruler be a broom, a baton, or a sceptre. Among the 
first acts of Philip II. was an order issued to the Viceroy of 
Mexico for the final conquest of the Philippines. This 
Hew expedition was rather fertile in discovery. It was con* 
ducted by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, and under him by A 
man of much greater talent, the Fray Andres de TJrdaneta^ 
a celebrated cosmographer and navigator, who, after sail- 
ing with Loyasa, had become a monk. To Urdaneta the 
honour was given of nominating the captain-general, his 
profession forbidding him to hold any secular rank, though 
no one was so well qualified to act as a " holy guide, to un- 
fUrl and wave the banner of Christ in the remotest of these 
islands, and to drive the Devil from the tyrannical posses- 
sion he had held for so many ages." The expedition sailed 
on the 21st November, 1564. On the 9th January, 1565, 
they discovered a snlall island, which they named De Los 
Barbudos, and next morning a chain of islands, which were 
called De los Plazeres, from the shoals. On the 12th an- 
other chain was discovered, and named Las Hermanas or 
The Sisters. These islands are supposed to be the Pisca- 
dores and Arrescifes of modern charts. The squadron 
touched at the Ladrones, where, on the island Guahan, the 
Padre Urdaneta would have formed the desired settlement ; 
but the sealed orders of the king, opened at sea, decreed 
that it should be established in the Philippines. The In- 
dians here, a blithe avid good-tempered raCe, Still, howeverj 
retained the propensity to thieving which had obtained for 
these islands their European designation. Their dwellings 
Were neatly formed and lofty, raised on stone pillars, and 
divided into chambers. They had boat-houses or dry 
docks for their canoes. In Loyasa's voyage, we hear that 
the only creatures seen among them were turtle-doves^ 



FIRST SPANISH SETTLEMENTS. 49 

tvhich they kept in cages, and taught to speak. They wor^ 
shipped the bones of their ancestors. Without seeing oihet 
land the fleet made the Philippines ; and, on the 3d Febru- 
ary, 1565, anchored near the east part of the island Tan- 
daya. The natives wore the semblance of friendship ; and 
the captain-general made a covenant of alliance v^^ith the 
chiefs, according to the customs of their country, the par- 
ties to the treaty dravping blood from their arms and breasts, 
and mingling it with wine or water, in which they pledged 
mutual fidelity. The Indians, however, were not the dupes 
of European policy. With much shrewdness, they remarked 
that the Spaniards gave " good words but bad deeds." The 
fleet sailed from place to place, but small progress was made 
in gaining the confidence of the people, who were now 
fully alive to the intentions of their visiters. One station 
after another was abandoned, and Zebu was at last selected 
as the point of settlement. There the Spaniards carried 
matters in a higher tone than they had hitherto assumed. 
The tardiness of the people to acknowledge the offered 
civilities of the voyagers w^as used as a pretext for aggres- 
sion, and the foundation of the first settlement of the Span- 
iards in the Philippines was laid in the reeking ashes of the 
sacked capital of Zebu. 

Hostilities continued to be waged for a time between the 
islanders and the invaders ; but mutual interest dictated 
peace, and the late unprovoked atrocities of the Europeans 
were at last viewed as a just though severe retribution for 
the treacherous murder of Magellan's crew by their ances- 
tors forty years before. The news of the settlement was 
carried back to America by the Fray Andres Urdaneta, the 
pilot-monk, who sailed on the 1st June, and on the 3d of 
October reached Acapulco — a navigation highly extolled at 
the time, as the passage across the Pacific from west to 
east, so necessary to facihtate the communication between 
the Philippines and the mother country, had hitherto baffled 
every navigator. By following a course to the 40th degree 
of north latitude fair winds were obtained ; and the home- 
ward voyage long continued to be made to New Spain by 
the same track, which obtained the name of Urdaneta's 
Passage. The name of the friar became celebrated among 
all the European navigators ; and to him we find English 
seamen attributing the fabled discovery of the North-wesS 
E 



60 ROBINSON CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 

Passage, long before Sir Francis Drake had attempted an 
enterprise which Britons still appear so reluctant to aban- 
don as hopeless. 

Legaspi's expedition laid the foundation of Spanish power 
securely in the Philippines. The settlement of Manilla 
soon followed that of Zebu ; the former place being then, 
what it still remains, the capital of all the islands going 
under the general name given them by Villalobos. 

Other discoveries in the South Sea, memorable, if not 
important, preceded the voyage of Drake. Maritime sci- 
ence was now advancing surely, though slowly ; and indi- 
vidual sagacity, boldness, and experience were occasionally 
anticipating its progress. Juan Fernandez, a Spanish 
pilot, who often made the passage from Peru to the new 
settlements in Chili, in the hopes of finding favourable 
winds for the south, to which contemporary navigator® 
made tedious and difficult voyages, creeping timidly along 
the coast, had stood out to sea ; and in the progress of his 
voyage discovered the island which bears his name — a 
name dear and familiar to readers over the whole globe as 
Robinson Crusoe's Island. This discovery of a land offer- 
ing what the seaman most requires, — wood, water, anchor- 
age, and vegetables, — was made in the year 1563, in 33*^ 
45' south latitude, and distant from the coast of America 
115 geographical leagues. Cocos Island, so named from its 
most plentiful production, and the Galapagos, or Turtle 
Islands, afterward celebrated as the haunts of the English 
Buccaneers, had now been discovered, and also the group 
named the Solomon Islands. 

The narrative of the navigation of Mendana, undertaken 
for the purpose of discovery in the South Sea, and in which 
he saw the land named the Solomon Islands, forms an in- 
teresting chapter in the early Spanish voyages. Alvaro de 
Mendana left Callao, the port of Lima, on the 10th Janu- 
ary, 1567, and, sailing 1450 leagues, discovered in Q'^ 45' 
south, the Isle of Jesus, and after other trifling discoveries 
the island of Saint Isabella of the Star, and successively 
the group to which the name of Solomon Isles was affixed, 
th,at it might attract attention by indicating great wealth in 
gold and other precious commodities. In that age these 
islands were by the ignorant believed those from which? 
Solomon had obtained gold and sandal-wood, and the rai«r 



THE SOLOMON ISLES. 51 

materials employed in erecting the Temple. The islanders 
were found of various characters ; though it may be, the 
difference consisted more in the mood of the moment than 
in original or permanent causes. At Saint Isabella they 
were mulattoes, with crisp hair. Their food was roots and 
eocoanuts. The Spaniards supposed them to be cannibals, 
though some distinction ought perhaps to be drawn between 
habitual men-eaters and those tribes who, merely in the 
gratification of brutal vengeance, devour their enemies. 
They were nearly naked, and worshipped reptiles and 
toads. Some of the islands produced in abundance yams 
and bread-fruit ; in one a volcano was seen, then smoking. 
A. brigantine was built for the purpose of further discovery 
m this interesting archipelago, round which the pilots 
cruised, threading many channels. During the ceremony 
of erecting a cross on one of the islands, and taking pos- 
session, the Spaniards were attacked. If they sometimes 
showed humanity, in no case did they study forbearance. 
Two natives were shot, and the rest fled. In a river which 
the Spaniards explored to some distance gold was found. 
Other islands and a populous coast was seen, with which 
the Spaniards for some time maintained a friendly inter- 
course. But aggressions on the gentiles by their Christian 
visiters was not then considered a more forbidden pastime 
than the cruel violence practised on the natives of Africa 
in later days. The seizure of a boy by the captain-gene- 
ral gave just offence to a chief, who had till then been hos- 
pitable and friendly ; and the refusal to give up his subject 
was revenged, in their fashion, by the murder of ten Span- 
iards, belonging to a watering-party which the Indians had 
surprised. This was the signal for wide-spreading ven- 
geance. Houses were burned, and many of the natives 
killed ; nor did the outrages of the Spaniards terminate 
here. Landing on an island they had named San Christo- 
val, they were boldly opposed by the natives, of whom two 
were shot, and the rest fled, leaving their houses to be 
plundered by the invaders. 

Mendana returned to Lima. The romantic accounts of 
the wealth and fertility of this new Ophir gave rise to a 
project of settlement, but it died away ; and, on the rapid 
extension of the continental settlements, his discovery 
nearly faded from recollection, or survived merely in the 



52 SOUTHERN CONTINENT. 

imperfect charts and journals of the navigators. Thirty years 
afterward, when Mendana undertook another voyage, he 
could not fall in with his former discovery, and the Solo- 
mon Islands remained unvisited till refound by M. Surville 
in 1769, two centuries after the visit of Mendana. They 
have since been visited, at different times, both by English 
and French navigators. 

Such was nearly the amount of discovery in that great 
sea, itself but lately known, previous to the voyage of Drake, 
— a claim set up for Juan Fernandez of having seen the 
coast of New Zealand' being still a subject of doubt and 
dispute. 

A continent to the south was a favourite and natural idea 
among the navigators of that age ; and Fernandez, already 
a discoverer of some note, and a skilful pilot and bold sea- 
man, reported that in one of his periodical voyages between 
Chili and Peru, sailing about 40 degrees off the coast of 
Chili, and lying upon courses between west and south, he 
found a fair and fertile portion of an unknown continent, 
inhabited by white people, who were dressed in woven cloth, 
and were in their manners kind and hospitable. The skep- 
tical may question the relation altogether ; the charitable 
will conclude that New Zealand was seen, or some large 
island still unknown to modern voyagers, many of which 
the Pacific is sufficiently capacious to contain. Another 
important discovery is claimed by the Spaniards, but not 
supported by evidence. In 1 576, the year preceding Drake's 
voyage, a navigator named Gali is said to have discovered 
an island which he named Table Mountain from its exter- 
nal appearance, and which, it is stated, was the Owhyee 
of the Sandwich group. If the discovery was ever made, it 
was completely forgotten ; which is not likely when the im- 
portance of such a midway station for the Spanish fleet and 
ships passing between Mexico and the Philippines is con- 
sidered. 

Some abortive voyages to Magellanica are omitted here, 
the chapter having already extended to considerable length ; 
and now, taking leave of the early Spanish discoverers, we 
turn to the career of that illustrious navigator who first 
launched an English ship int.o the South Sea, and carried 
the fame of the nation which his discoveries enriched to th© 
Uttermost parts of the globe. 



(53) 



DRAKE. 



CHAPTER II. 

Life of Sir Francis Drake. 

Drake's Birth and Parentage— He goes to Sea— Purser of a Biscay 
Trader — Voyage to the Guinea Coast — Sir John Ha wlcins— Slave 
Trade— Affa'ir at St. Juan de Ulloa— Drake returns to England— Ex- 
perimental Voyages— Expedition to Noinbre de Dios — Journey across 
the Isthmus — Rich Booty— Returns Home— Fits out Frigates— Irish 
Rebellion— Patronage of Essex; of Sir Christopher Hatton— Intro- 
duced at Court. 

!I^EANCis Drake, in common with many of the great men 
whose names impart lustre to the annals of England, may 
be termed the son of his own brave deeds. His family and 
the rank of his father have, however, been made the subject 
of much unprofitable discussion. In the heroic ages the 
birth of so illustrious a man, if at all obscure, would at once 
have been derived from the gods, — an origin of extreme con- 
venience to such biographers as, influenced by the prejudices 
of descent, disdain to relate the history of a poor man's son. 
Modern skepticism and coldness of imagination making this 
no longer possible, a struggle is nevertheless made for dis- 
tinguished origin of some kind. The godfather of Drake 
was Sir Francis Russel of Tavistock, afterward Earl of Bed- 
ford ; and though various authorities are given for his father 
having been in orders, there remains no doubt that he was 
an honest mariner belonging to the same place. An attempt 
has been made to reconcile the contradictory accounts of 
Camden and Stowe by assuming that the father of Drake, 
originally a seaman, was converted to the reformed faith in 
the reign of Henry VIII., fell under the cognizance of some 
of his capricious and arbitrary edicts, and, fleeing into Kent, 
obtained orders, first read prayers to the fleet, and afterward 
was appointed vicar of Upnore on the Medway, in which 
E3 



54 drake's ancestry. 

river the royal fleet then usually rode. Though Johnson, 
following Camden, without hesitation assumes the fact of 
the elder Drake being a clergyman, it is superfluous to cite 
the dates and accurate authority which disprove what both 
the annalist and the sage had a strong inclination to be- 
lieve. Stowe and the Biographia Britannica restore to the 
" honest mariner of Tavistock" the son of whom he had beeri 
innocently deprived by the real or imaginary vicar of Up- 
nore ; and Burney, in later times, though searching and 
accurate, does not even advert to a claim of birth which 
could add nothing to the renown of Francis Drake. The 
credit of having had Sir Francis Russel for his godfather is 
also disputed ; and with this too Drake could dispense, 
especially as he is allowed to have gained nothing by this 
distinction save the Christian name which he bore. 

But whatever were his ancestry, it is clearly ascertained 
that Francis was the eldest of twelve sons, who, with few 
exceptions, went to sea. It is said that he was brought up 
and educated by Sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman. 
The degree or existence of the relationship is not clearly 
made out, and it is certain that young Drake was not tong 
a charge upon any patron ; for at a very tender age his 
father, having a large family, put him apprentice to a neigh- 
bour who traded to Zealand and France. Here he speedily 
acquired that practical knowledge of his profession which 
made him early in life as experienced and expert a seaman 
as he afterward became an able commander. His fidelity 
and diligence in this service gained the good- will and regard 
of his master, who, dying a bachelor, bequeathed his vessel 
to young Drake ; and thus in the active and vigilant dis- 
charge of his first humble duties was laid the sure founda- 
tion of future eminence and prosperity. At the early age 
of eighteen Drako was made purser of a ship trading to 
Biscay, and soon afterward engaged in the Guinea trade, 
which had lately been opened by the enterprise of his re- 
puted relation. Captain John Hawkins. The cruelty and 
injustice of this traffic was the discovery of a much later 
age. 

The regular course of the trade, the most lucrative in 
which England had ever been engaged, was for ships to re- 
pair first to the Guinea coast for the human cargo obtained 
by fraud, violence, and the most inhuman means, and then 



SIR JOHN HAWKINS. 55 

to the Spanish islands and the colonies on the main, where 
the Africans were bartered for silver, sugar, hides, &c. &c. 
The history of the first voyage to the Guinea coast is that 
of every succeeding one : — " Master John Hawkins, coming 
upon the coast of Sierra Leone, staid for some time ; and 
partly by the sword, and partly by other means, got into his 
possession three hundred negroes at the least." 

Few voyages had been made from England to this new 
El Dorado when Drake, at the a ge of twenty, desirous of 
extending his professional knowledge and participating in 
the gains of the slave-trade, embarked for Guinea in the 
squadron of Captain John Hawkins. Though Hawkins for 
his exploits on the Guinea coast had already obtained for 
his coat-of-arms, by orient from the herald's ofnce, " a demi- 
Moor in his proper colour, bound with a cord," he was not 
knighted till after he had obtained distinction in the public 
service. Whether Drake sailed from Plymouth captain of 
the Judith, one of the smallest ships of Hawkins's squadron, 
in the expedition undertaken to Guinea in 1567, or obtained 
this honour during the voyage, or in the harbour of St. Juan 
de UUoa, is not clear ; though it is asserted in the relation 
of Miles Philip that he went out captain. It is sufficient 
that in the desperate rencounter at St. Juan de Ulloa be- 
tween the Spaniards and the English squadron, he held a 
command, and honourably distinguished himself. But tliis 
somewhat anticipates the order of events in the first remark- 
able period of Drake's history. 

Having completed his cargo of slaves, Hawkins and his 
company took the usual course to the Canaries and Spanish 
America, to exchange tl.e Africans for other wares more 
valued in England. In passing, he took the town of Rio 
de la Hacha, because the governor did not choose to trade 
with him. This circumstance is noticed, as it afl:brds the 
only shadow of palliation for the subsequent treachery dis- 
played by the Spaniards in the port of St. Juan de Ulloa, 
whither Hawkins was driven in to obtain shelter and re- 
freshments by the severe gales which on his way to Eng- 
land were encountered on the coast of Florida. When the 
squadron of six ships entered the port, they were believed by 
the inhabitants to be a Spanish fleet then hourly expected ; 
and those who came on board were in some consternation 
on discovering the mist^e. Hawkins, who from the first 



56 AFFAIR OF ST. JUAN DE ULLOA. 

professed that he came in peace and friendship, to obtain 
shelter from stress of weather, and provisions for his money 
and merchandise, treated them with civiHty, but thought it 
prudent to detain two persons of consequence as hostages 
till assured of the terms on which he was to be received. 
The temptation of twelve merchant-ships lying in the port, 
with cargoes estimated at 200,000/., did not shake his in- 
tegrity, though he was aware that they might easily be 
overmastered by his force. It is, indeed, candidly confessed 
by Hawkins that he dreaded the displeasure of the queen. 
A messenger was despatched to the Viceroy of Mexico ; but 
before any answer could be returned to the demand of Haw- 
kins the expected fleet appeared^ and his situation became 
uneasy and critical. The Spanish fleet had on board a 
cargo valued at six or seven millions. If Hawkins pre- 
vented them from entering the harbour, they ran imminent 
risk of destruction ; and if admitted, his own safety was 
put in jeopardy ; the port being confined, the town popu- 
lous, and the Spaniards ready, he believed, and fatally ex- 
perienced, to practise any treachery. At last the fleet was 
admitted, the governor of Mexico agreeing to the terms 
stipulated, which were, the exchange of hostages, a supply 
of provisions on fair terms, and that a fortified island which 
lay across and commanded the port should be given up to 
the English till their departure. On the faith of this treaty 
the Spanish fleet were allowed to sail in, mutual salutations 
were fired by the ships of both nations, and visits and civili- 
ties exchanged between the officers and the seamen. 

Save for embroiling England in war, and thereby incur- 
ring the wrath of Elizabeth, and perhaps endangering hrs 
own neck, Hawkins, dissatisfied and rendered suspicious by 
the tardiness of the late negotiation, would certainly have 
put all to the hazard of a fight, and have gained glory and 
the seven millions, or have lost himself; but he was now 
lulled into temporary security on the faith of a treaty which 
the Spaniards had never meant to observe longer than until 
they were able to violate it with impunity. Their fleet was 
reinforced by a thousand men secretly conveyed from the 
land. An unusual bustle and shifting of men and weapons 
from ship to ship was noticed by the English, and their de- 
mand for explanation of these symptoms was answered by 
«,n instant attack on all sides. The Minion and the Juditlf 



SPANISH TREACHERY. 57 

{the small vessel commanded by Drake) were the only Eng- 
lish ships that escaped ; and their safety was owing to the 
valour and conduct of the commanders, and only ensured 
after a desperate inough short conflict. The other four 
veasels were destroyed, and many of the seamen were rather 
butchered in cold blood than killed in action. The English 
who held the fortress, struck with alarm, fled to reach the 
ships at the beginning of the fight ; and in the attempt were 
massacred without mercy. Such an engagement in a nar- 
row port, each of the English vessels surrounded and 
attacked by th.oe or four of those of Spain, presents a scene 
of havoc and confusion unparalleled in the records of mari- 
time warfare. By the desperate valour of the Enghsh in 
this unequal combat the Admiral and several more of .the 
Spanish ships were burnt and sunk. 

Placed between the fortress and the still numerous fleet, 
it was by miracle ti^?,t even one English vessel got away. 
Hawkins reached England in the Minion, which suffered 
incredible hardships in the homeward voyage. She left the 
port without provisions or water, and crowded with seamen 
who had escaped the general slaughter, many of them 
wounded. The relation of their hardships, produced as 
they were by the basest treachery, must have made an in- 
delible impression in England, where the Spaniards were 
already in bad odour. The details given by Miles Philip of 
the hardships of the voyage are too revolting to be trans- 
ferred to this narrative, but may be imagined from the words 
of Hawkins : — " If all the miseries and troublesome aftairs 
of this voyage be thoroughly written, there would need a 
painful man with his pen, and as great a time as he that 
wrote the Lives of the Martyrs." The Judith, Drake's ves- 
sel, which parted from the Minion on the fatal night — 
(" forsook us in our great misery" are the words of Haw- 
kins) — made the homeward voyage with less hardship and 
difficulty than the Minion. 

Here Drake had lost his all, and here was laid the founda- 
tion of that hatred and distrust of the Spaniards which must 
have palliated many of his subsequent actions, and recon- 
ciled his countrymen to conduct they might noft so readily 
have pardoned in one less sinned against. The chaplain 
of the fleet obtains the credit of expounding the justice of 
making reprisals on all Spaniards for the wrong inflicted by 



58 NEW EXPEDITION. 

a few; but this might well be a spontaneous feeling in a 
hrave 3'oung man burning with resentment at the perfidy by 
which his comrades had been murdered and himself betrayed 
and beggared. It has been quaintly said that "in sea- 
divinity the case was clear. The King of Spain's subjects 
had undone Mr. Drake, and therefore Mr. Drake was enti- 
tled to take the best satisfaction he could on the subjects of 
the King of Spain." 

This doctrine was very taking in England, where " the 
good old rule, the simple plan," was still followed, — 

" That they should take who have the power, 
And those should keep who can." 

The scheme of Drake for a new expedition to the Spanish 
American colonies was accordingly no sooner made public 
than he found numbers of volunteers and friends ready to 
promote so praiseworthy a design as that which he was pre- 
sumed to entertain, and who, having no personal quarrel of 
their own, were quite ready to adopt his, if the issue prom- 
ised any share of those treasures with , the fame of which 
Europe rung. But Drake was not yet prepared for the full 
development of his projects, and in all probability it was but 
gradually that they arose in his own mind. 

The infamous transactions of St. Juan de Ulloa took place 
in September, 1568, and in 1570 Drake undertook his first 
voyage with two ships, the Dragon and the Swan. In the 
following year he sailed with the Swan alone. That the 
means of undertaking any voyage were placed in the hands 
of a man still so young is highly creditable to his character 
and good conduct. These might be called preparatory or 
experimental voyages, in which he cautiously and carefully 
reconnoitred the scene of future exploits ; and improving his 
acquaintance with the islands and coasts of South America 
on the only side hitherto supposed accessible to Englishmen, 
amassed the wealth which enabled him to extend his sphere 
of enterprise, and enrich himself and his owners while pay^ 
ingback part of his old debt to Spain. 

Drake's first bold and daring attempt at reprisal was 
made in 1572. His squadron consisted of two vessels of 
small weight, — and this kind of light bark he seemet] 
always to prefer, — the Pacha of seventy tons burthen, which 
Jie commanded, and the Swan, once again afloat, a vessel 



ATTACK ON NOMBRE DE BIOS. 59 

of twenty-five tons, in which he placed his brother Mr. John 
Drake. His whole force consisted of seventy-three* men 
and boys. Instead of setting out, as has been alleged, with 
so slender a force as twenty-three men and boys, to take 
ships and storm towns, it is probable that Drake, aftei 
leaving England, recruited his numbers from vessels with 
which he fell in among the islands, as Lopez Vaz relates 
that at Nombre de Dios he landed 150 men. This town 
was at that time what Porto Bello, a much more conve- 
nient station, afterward became, — the entrepdt between the 
commodities of old Spain and the wealth of India and 
Peru ; and in riches imagined to be inferior only to Panama 
on the western shore. It was, however, merely a stage in 
the transmission of treasure and merchandise, and not thei? 
abiding place ; and at particular seasons the town, which 
3id not at any time exceed thirty houses, was almost de- 
serted. 

On the 24th March, Drake sailed from Plymouth, and on 
the 22d July, in the night, made the attack on the town. 
A relation of this adventure, written by Philip Nicols, 
preacher, and afterward published by Sir Francis Drake, 
nephew, heir, and godson of the navigator, is both less ac* 
curate and circumstantial than the narrative of Lopez Vaz, 
who, if not an eyewitness, was near the spot, and conver-* 
sant with the actors and spectators. Drake's force is esti- 
mated at 1 50 men, half of which he left at a small fortj 
and with the other division advanced in cautious silence to 
the market-place, when he ordered the calivers to be dis* 
charged, and the trumpet to be loudly sounded, the trum- 
peter in the fort replying, and the men firing at the same 
time, which made the alarmed Spaniards, startled out of 
their sleep, believe the place was attacked on all sides. 
Some scarcely awake fled to the mountams ; but a band 
of fourteen or fifteen rallied, and, armed with arquebuses, 

* In Campbell's Lives of the British Admirals the number of men is 
stated at twenty-three, which is evidently a misprint or mistake. The 
Biographia Britannica, from which the Life of Drake in the Lives of the 
Admirals is taken almost verbatim, makes their number seventy-three 
"Which is further confirmed by the narrative of Lopez Vaz, a Portuguese' 
•who virrote a relation of the adventures of Drake in this voyage, which 
was afterward found in the custody of Vaz, when he was made prisonsf 
by the English in Rio de la Plata, iu 1587. 



60 ISTHMUS OF DARIEN. 

tepaired to the scene of action. Discovering the small 
number of the assailants, they took courage, fired and killed 
the trumpeter, and wounded one of the leaders of the party, 
— Drake was also wounded. The men in the fort, hearing* 
the trumpet silenced, which had been the preconcerted 
signal, while tbe firing continued more briskly than beforcj 
became alarmed, and fled to their pinnaces. 

Lopez Vaz relates that Drake's followers, retiring on the 
fort and finding it evacuated, shared in the panic, hastened 
to the shore leaving their equipments behind, and by wading 
and swimming reached the pinnaces. One Spaniard look- 
ing out at a window was accidentally killed. 

Disappointed of the rich booty expected in the town^ 
Drake, on information obtained from the Symerons, a tribe' 
of Indians in the Darien who lived in constant hostility 
with the Spaniards, resolved to intercept the mules em-*^ 
ployed to carry treasure from Panama to Nombre de Dies. 
Leaving his small squadron moored within the Sound of 
Darien, he set out, with a hundred men and a number of 
Indians, to attack and plunder this caravan of the New 
World. The plan, so well laid, was in the first instance 
frustrated by a drunken seaman. 

It was in this expedition across the isthmus that Drake, 
from the first sight of the Pacific, received that inspiration 
which, in the words of Camden, " left him no rest in his 
own mind till he had accomplished his purpose of sailing 
an English ship in those seas." The account of this ad- 
ventUTe, alluded to in the beginning of this volume, is in 
one original history so interesting and picturesque that we 
transfer it without mutilation : — " On the twelfth day we 
came to the height of the desired hill (lying east and west 
like a ridge between the two seas) about ten of the clock ; 
where the chiefest of the Symerons took our captain by the 
hand and prayed him to follow him. Here was that goodly 
and great high tree, in which they had cut, and made 
divers steps to ascend near the top, where they had made 
a convenient bower, wherein ten or twelve men might 
easily sit ; and from thence we might see the Atlantic 
Ocean we came from, and the South Atlantic so much de- 
sired.. South and north of this tree they had felled certain 
trees that the prospect might be the clearet. 

" After our captain had ascended to this bower with the 



RETURN OF DRAKE. 61 

chief Symeron, and having, as it pleased God at this time 
by reason of the breeze, a very fair day, had seen that sea 
of which he had heard such golden reports, he besought of 
Almighty God of his goodness to give him life and leave 
to sail once in an English ship in that sea, and then, calling 
up all the rest of our men, acquainted John Oxnam espe- 
cially with this his petition and purpose, if it should please 
God to grant him that happiness." 

This enthusiasm of a noble ambition did not, however, 
divert the thoughts of the adventurer from enterprises of a 
more questionable kind. Disappointed at Nombre de Dios, 
and again of intercepting the mules, he stormed Venta 
Cruz, a half-way station for the lodgment of goods and 
refreshment of travellers making their way through the 
difficult and fatiguing passes of the isthmus. According 
to Lopez Vaz, six or seven merchants were killed ; and as 
no gold or silver was obtained to satiate the thirst of the 
English seamen, goods were wantonly destroyed to the 
amount of two thousand ducats. It is however not easy to 
say whether it was before or after this outrage that a 
string of treasure-mules was by accident surprised. The 
gold was carried off, and as much silver as it was possible 
to bear away. The rest was buried till a new voyage 
should be undertaken, and Drake and his company regained 
their ships just in time to escape the Spaniards. — " Fortune 
so favoured his proceedings," says Vaz, " that he had not 
been above half an hour on board when there came to the 
seaside above three hundred soldiers, which were sent of 
purpose to take hhn ; but God suffered him to escape their 
hands to be a further plague unto the Spaniards." In this 
expedition a trait of Drake's character is recorded, which 
at once marks his generosity and enlightened policy. To 
the cacique of the friendly Symerons he had presented his 
own cutlass, for which the chief had discovered a true In- 
dian longing. In return the Indian gave him four large 
wedges of gold, which, declining to appropriate, Drake 
threw into the common stock, saying, " he thought it but 
just that such as bore the charge of so uncertain a voyage 
on his credit should share the utmost advantage that voyage 
produced." And now, " God suffering him to be a further 
plague to the Spanish nation, he sailed away with his 
treasure." This was considerable, and good fortune 
F 



63 drake's next project* 

attended Drake to the end of his voyage ; for, leaving 
Florida, in twenty-three days he reached the Scilly Isles, 
probably the quickest passage that had yet been made. It 
was in time of public service, on Sunday the 9th August, 
1573, that he returned to Plymouth; and '^new^s of Cap- 
tain Drake's return being carried to church, there remained 
few or no people with the preacher ; all running out to 
observe the blessing of God upon the dangerous adventures 
of the captain, who had spent one year two months and 
some odd days in this voyage." 

The next undertaking of Drake was of a more ambitious 
character. With the wealth acquired thus gallantly, and 
in the opinion of his contemporaries fairly and honourably, 
though the means may not stand the test of the morality 
of a more enlightened and philosophic age, Drake fitted 
out three stout frigates, which, with himself as a volunteer, 
he placed at the disposal of Walter, Earl of Essex, father 
of the unfortunate favourite of Elizabeth. Of these he 
was, as a matter of course, appointed commander, and per- 
formed good service in subduing the rebellion in Ireland. 
His former reputation and his late exploits had now ac-" 
quired for Drake high fame and noble patronage. He be- 
came known to the queen through the introduction of her" 
favourite and privy-counsellor. Sir Christopher Hatton, a 
distinction doubly desirable as it promised assistance in 
" that haughty design which every day and night lay next' 
his heart, pricking him forwards to the performance." 

Though, in the enthusiasm of the moment of inspiration, 
Drake had betrayed his project, when the time came for its 
accomplishment he maintained an almost suspicious re- 
serve, meditating his great design without " confiding it to 
any one." His character through life was that of a man 
who listens to every one's counsel, but follows his own ; 
and doubtless in the purpose he meditated there was no> 
judgment so well informed and ripe. 



SPEECH OF ELIZABETH. 63 



CHAPTER III. 

Drake's Circumnavigation. 

The Queen approves the new Expedition— Drake's Squadron— Cape 
Cantin— Muley Moloch— Cape Blanco— Mayo and Brava— The Bra- 
zilians — Ostriches — Natives of Seal Bay — Their Manners and Dis- 
position— Patagonians— Unfortunate Affray— Stature of the Indians 
— Port St. Julian — Doughty's Trial and Execution — Passage of the 
Strait— The Natives— The Fleet separated— Tierra del Fuego— Fate 
of the Shallop's Crew — Cape Horn — The Elizabethides — Capture of 
Spanish Prizes— Lamas with Treasure— Capture of the Cacafuego— 
The Hind proceeds in Search of the North-west Passage— Indians 
of New Albion discovered— Singular Manners of the Indians — 
Drake crosses the Pacific— The Ladrones— The Moluccas— Remark- 
able Preservation — Baratane— Java — The Voyage Home — The Cape 
of Good Hojpe— Arrival at Plymouth— Drake's Fame— The Queen 
visits his Ship. 

Spain and England were still nominally at peace, though 
the national animosity was continually breaking out in 
fits of aggression and violence ; and if Elizabeth did not 
absolutely discountenance, her policy forbade open appro- 
bation of a project so equivocal as that which Drake con- 
templated. It is however certain that the plan of his 
voyage was laid before the queen ; and her majesty, once 
convinced of its importance, and the glory and advantage 
which might be derived to her kingdom from its prosperous 
issue, was easily reconciled to the justice of what appeared 
so expedient. The plan accordingly at last received her 
decided though secret approbation. In one relation of 
the voyage it is even affirmed that Drake held the royal 
xjommission, though this is not probable. What follows 
is more true to the character of Elizabeth, subtle at once 
and bold. At a parting interview she is said to have pre- 
sented Drake with a sword, delivered with this emphatic 
speech, "We do account that he who striketh at thee, 
Drake, striketh at us." Even this verbal commission 
saves Drake from the charge of having made a piratical 
iroyage, or divides the shame with his sovereign. 

The high estimation in which Drake was now held may 



^4 THE SQUADRON. 

be gathered from the readiness with which friends and 
admirers placed in his hands their ships, and the means 
of equipping a squadron to go on some expedition of which 
the destination lay hid in his own bosom. Nor, though 
the horrible suiFerings of Hawkins's crew and more recent 
disasters were still fresh in the public memory, did he lack 
both officers and seamen, from among the most bold, able, 
and active of that age, who were ready to follow him blind- 
fold to the end of the world. Some of the more sordid 
might from afar smell the spoils of the Spaniards, but many 
were actuated by nobler motives. 

The squadron was ostensibly fitted out for a trading 
voyage to Alexandria, though the pretence deceived no 
one, and least of all the watchful Spaniards. It consisted 
of five vessels of light burthen, the largest being only 100 
tons. This was named the Pelican, and was the captain- 
general's ship. The others were, the Elizabeth, a bark of 
80 tons belonging to London, and commanded by Captain 
John Winter ; the Swan, a fly-boat of 50 tons burthen,. 
Captain John Chester ; the Christopher, a pinnace of 15 
tons. Captain Thomas Moone ; and the Mari'gold, a bark 
of 30 tons. Captain John Thomas. The Benedict, a pin- 
nace of 12 tons, accompanied the Elizabeth. The frames 
of four pinnaces were taken out, to be set up as they were 
wanted. The anxiety displayed for the proper outfit of 
the squadron, the extent of preparations in provisioning 
the ships, and laying in arms and stores equal to a very 
long voyage, and the improbability of Drake, after his late 
exploits, undertaking a peaceful expedition for traffic, had 
betrayed in part his design before the fleet left England ; 
but when, out of sight of the land, the captain-general, in 
case of separation, appointed a rendezvous at the island of 
Mogadore on the Barbary coast, there was no remaining 
doubt that his enterprise pointed to a place m-ore distant 
and important than Alexandria. 

Though it is probable that traversing the Pacific was a 
subsequent idea arising from the condition in which we 
shall find him after leaving the coast of New Albion, Drake 
is not the less entitled to the praise he has often received 
for attempting an enterprise like that of passing the Straits 
of Magellan with so small a force, and adventuring into 
wild, stormy, and unknovsm seas with ships of so little 



SPANISH SUPERSTITIONS. 65 

weight. The passage of the straits, even to a man not so 
obnoxious to the Spanish nation, was a project which 
<:;ould only rationally be entertained by a bold and com- 
ananding genius, relying implicitly on its own resources. 
The dangers and difficulties of Magellan's Strait had made 
it be for a long period of years abnost abandoned by the 
Spaniards, and it was come to be a saying among them 
that the passage had closed up. A superstitious prejudice 
was conceived against all farther attempts in the South 
Sea, which, it was asserted, had proved fatal to every one 
who had been celebrated as a discoverer there, — as if 
providence had a controversy with those who were so 
daring as to pass the insuperable barriers placed between 
the known and the unknown world. Magellan had been 
killed by the heathen in this new region, which Europeans 
had no sanction to approach ; Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the 
European who first saw the South Sea, put to death by his 
countrymen ; and De Solis cruelly murdered by the na- 
tives of Rio de la Plata, when proceeding to the strait. 
Most of the commanders had successively perished of dis- 
eases produced by the hardships and anxiety attending the 
voyage. The mariner De Lope, who from the topmast of 
a ship of Magellan's fleet first saw the strait, had a fate 
etill more dreadful in the eyes of the good Catholics of 
Castile, as he had turned a renegado and Mohammedan. 
None of these real and imaginary dangers deterred Drake ; 
and he, who at all times preferred vessels of light burden, 
as of greater utility in threading narrow and intricate 
.channels and coasting unknown shores than ships of large 
,and unwieldy size, selected those mentioned above. 

Besides the cargoes usually exported for trading, both 
with civihzed and savage nations, Drake, who knew the 
full value of shows and pageants, and whatever strikes the 
senses, had taken care to equip himself with many ele- 
gancies seldom thought of by early navigators. His own 
furniture and equipage were splendid, and his silver 
cooking utensils and the plate of his table of rich and cu- 
rious workmanship. He also carried out a band of 
musicians, and studied every thing that could impress the 
natives in the lands he was to visit or discover with the 
magnificence and the high state of refinement and of th@ 
«jts in his own country^ 

F3 



66 MOGADORE. 

On the 15th November, 1577, the squadron sailed from 
Plymouth, but, encountering a violent gale on the same 
night, were forced to put back into Falmouth : the main- 
mast of the Pelican was cut away, and the Marigold was 
driven on shore and shattered. This was a disheartening 
ouset ; but after refitting at Plymouth, they sailed once 
more on the 13th December, and proceeded prosperously. 

On Christmas-day they reached Cape Cantin on the 
coast of Barbary, and on the 27th Mogadore, — an island 
lying about a mile from the mainland, between which and 
it they found a safe and convenient harbour. Mogadore 
is an island of moderate height ; it is about a league in 
circuit. Having sent out a boat to sound, they entered by 
the north approach to the port, the southern access being 
found rocky and shallow. Here Drake halted to fit up one 
of the pinnaces for service ; and, while thus engaged, 
some of the Barbary Moors appeared on the shore, display- 
ing a flag of truce, and making signals to be taken on 
board. Two of superior condition were brought to the 
ships, an English hostage being left on shore for their safe 
return. The strangers were courteously received and hos- 
pitably regaled by the captain-general, who presented 
them with linen, shoes, and a javelin. When sent on 
shore, the hostage was restored ; and next day, as several 
loaded camels were seen approaching, it was naturally 
presumed their burdens were provisions and merchandise, 
and the English sent off a boat to trade. On the boat 
reaching the shore, a seaman more alert than his neigh- 
bours leaped among the Moors, and was instantly snatched 
up, thrown across a horse, and the whole party set off at a 
round gallop. The boat's crew, instead of attempting to 
rescue their companion, consulted their personal safety by 
an immediate retreat to the ships. Indignant at the treach- 
ery of the Moors, Drake landed with a party to recover the 
Englishman and take vengeance ; but was compelled to 
return without accomplishing his object. Time, which 
cleared up the mystery, also partly exculpated the Moors. 
It was ascertained that the seaman had been seized to be 
examined by the king, the famous Muley Moloch, respect- 
ing an armament then fitting out by the Portuguese to in- 
vade his territory, — an invasion which soon afterward took 
place, and of which the results are well known. Before the 



CAPE BLANCO MAYO. 67 

prisoner was dismissed the fleet had sailed ; but he was 
well treated, and permitted to return to England by the 
first ship that offered. 

The fleet, having taken in wood, sailed on the 31st De- 
cember, and on the 17th January, 1578, reached Cape 
Blanco, having on the cruise captured three caunters, as 
the Spanish fishing-boats were called, and two, or else 
three, caravels, — the accounts on this, as on several other 
minor points being often contradictory. A ship which was 
surprised in the harbour with only two men on board shared 
the same fate. At Cape Blanco they halted for five days' 
fishing ; while on shore Drake exercised his company in 
arms, thus studying both their health and the maintenance 
of good discipline. From the stores of the fishermen they 
helped themselves to such commodities as they wanted, and 
sailed on the 22d, carrying off also a caunter of 40 tons bur- 
then, for which the owner received, as a slight indemnifica- 
tion, the pinnace Christopher. At Cape Blanco fresh water 
was at this season so scarce, that instead of obtaining a 
supply, Drake, compassionating the condition of the na- 
tives, who came down from the heights, offering ambergris 
and gums in exchange for it, generally filled their leathern 
bags without accepting any recompense, and otherwise 
treated them humanely and hospitably. Four of the prizes 
were released here. After six days' sailing they came to 
anchor on the 28th at the west part of Mayo, — an island 
where, according to the information of the master of the 
caravel, dried goat's flesh might be had in plenty, the inhabit- 
ants preparing a store annually for the use of the king's 
ships. The people on the island, mostly herdsmen and 
husbandmen, belonging to the Portuguese of the island of 
St. Jago, would have no intercourse with the ships, having 
probably been warned of danger. Next day a party of 
sixty men landed, commanded by Captain Winter and Mr. 
Doughty, — a name with which, in the sequel, the reader will 
become but too familiar. They repaired to what was de- 
scribed as the capital of the island, by which must be un- 
derstood the principal aggregation of cabins or huts, but 
found it deserted. The inhabitants had fled, and had pre- 
viously salted the springs. The country appeared fertile, 
especially in the valleys ; and in the depth of the winter of 
Great Britain they feasted on ripe and delicious grapes. 
The island also produced cocoanuts, and they saw abun- 



6B ISLA DEL FOGO BRAVA. 

dance of goats and wild hens ; though these good things, 
and the fresh springs, were unfortunately too far distant from 
the ships to be available. Salt produced by the heat of the 
sun formed here an article of commerce, and one of the 
prizes made was a caravel bound to St. Jago for salt. 

Leaving Mayo on the 30th, on the south-west side of St, 
Jago, they fell in with a prize of more value, — a Portu- 
guese* ship bound to Brazil, laden with wine, cloth, and 
general merchandise, and having a good many passengers 
on board. The command of thi^ prize was given to 
Doughty, who was however soon afterward superseded by 
Mr. Thomas Drake, the brother of the general. This is 
the first time we hear of offences being charged against the 
unfortunate Doughty. It is said he appropriated to his 
own use presents, probably given as bribes to obtain good 
usage, by the Portuguese prisoners. These captives Drake 
generously dismissed at the first safe and convenient place, 
giving every passenger his wearing apparel, and present- 
ing them with a butt of wine, provisions, and the pinnace 
he had set up at Mogadore. Only the pilot was detained, 
Nunode Silva, who was acquainted with the coast of Brazil, 
&nd who afterward pjiblishejd a minute and accurate account 
of Drake's voy^^g^e.. 

Here, near the island named by the Portuguese Isla del 
Fogo or the Burning Island, where, says the Famous 
Voyage, " on the north side is a consuming fire, the matter 
whereof is said to be sulphur," lies Brava, described in the 
early narratives as a terrestrial paradise,^— " a most sweet 
and pleasant island, tlxe trees whereof are always green, 
and fair to look upon ; in respect of which they call it Isla 
Brava, that is, The Brave Island." The ^' soil was almost 
full of trees ; so that it was a storehouse of many fruits 
and commodities, as figs always ripe, cocoas, plantains, 
oranges, lemons, citrons, and cotton. From the brooks 
into the sea do run in many places sih/er streams of sweet 
and wholesome water," with which ships may easily be 
supplied. There was, however, no convenient harbour nor 
anchoring found at this >«' sweet and pleasant" island, — the 
volcanic tops of Del Fogo « not burning higher in the air" 
than the fountlations of Braya dipped ^eer into the sea. 

* Portugal was at this time annexed to the crown of Spa,in, which 
enabled the English navigators to reconcile an attack on the Port^igysa^ 
B^ps to CQiJscitsacee not l^vwavftr iiartiwlaxlj' &p;;.uiy}lPAis 



RIO DE LA PLATA. 69 

The squadron now approached the equinoctial line, 
sometimes becalmed, and at other times beaten about with 
tempests and heavy seas. In their progress they were in- 
debted to the copious rains for a seasonable supply of water. 
They also caught dolphins, bonitos, and flying-fish, which 
fell on the decks, and could not rise again "for lack 
of moisture on their wings." They had left the shore of 
Brava on the 2d February. On the 28th March their valu- 
able Portuguese prize, which was their wine-cellar and 
store, was separated in a tempest, but afterward rejoined 
at a place which, in commemoration of the event, was called 
Cape Joy. The coast of Brazil was now seen in 31^^* 
south. On the 5th April the natives, having discovered 
the ships on the coast, made great fires, went through va- 
rious incantations, and offered sacrifices, as was imaigined, 
to the Devil, that the prince of the powers of the air might 
raise storms to sink the strangers. To these diabolical arts 
the mariners doubtless attributed the violent lightning, 
thunder, and rain which they encountered in this latitude. 
About Cape Joy the air was mild and salubrious, the 
soil rich and fertile. Troops of wild deer, "large and 
mighty," were the only living creatures seen on this part 
of the coast, though the footprints of men of large stature 
were traced on the ground. Some seals were killed here, 
fresh provisions of any kind never being neglected. On 
the 14th of April, Drake anchored within the entrance of 
Rio de la Plata, where he had appointed a rendezvous in 
ease of separation after leaving the Cape de Verd Islands ; 
and here the caunter, which had separated in a gale on the 
7th, rejoined, when the expedition sailed 18 leagues farther 
into the river, where they killed sea-wolves (seals), — " whole- 
some but not pleasant food." Still farther in, they rode 
in fresh water ; but finding no good harbour, and having 
taken in water, the fleet, on the 27th, stood out, and after- 
ward southward. The Swan lost them on the first night, 
and the caunter, ever apt to go astray, was separated ten 
days afterward. In 47^ south a headland was seen, within 
which was a bay that promised safe harbourage ; and hav- 
ing, on the 12th May, entered and anchored, Drake, who 

* Another account says 38° south. In determining the latitude or lon- 
gitude, the authority of Burney is generally followed in this volume, as 
his eminent practical skill makes his observations on the discrepancies 
in the different accounts of great value. 



70 INDIANS OF RIO DE LA PLATA. 

seldom devolved the duty of examination on an inferior 
officer, went off in the boat next morning to explore the 
bay. Before he made land a thick fog came on, and was 
followed by bad weather, which took froip him the sight 
of the fleet. The company became alarmed for their pro- 
tector and general, in whom all their hopes of fortune, 
fame, and even of preservation were placed. The Mari- 
gold, a bark of light weight, stood in for the bay, picked 
up the captain-general, and came to anchor. In the mean 
while the other ships, as the gale increased, had been com- 
pelled to stand out to sea. The fog which had fallen be- 
tween Drake and the fleet also took from his sight an In- 
dian, who, loudly shaking a rattle, danced in time to the 
discordant music he made, and by his gestures seemed to 
invite the strangers on shore. Next day Drake landed, 
and several Indians came in sight, to whom a white flag 
was waved in token of amity, and as a signal to approach. 
The natives acknowledged the symbol of peace, but still 
kept at a wary distance. 

Drake now ordered fires to be lighted as signals to the 
ships ; and they all rejoined, save the two vessels formerly 
separated. 

In a sort of storehouse here, above fifty dried ostriches 
were found, besides other birds laid up, dry or drying for 
provision, by the Indians. It was believed by some of the 
jEnglish that these had been left as a present ; and Drake, 
whether believing or not in so rare an instance of hospi- 
tality, appropriated the dried birds to the use of his com- 
pany. It is a charitable conjecture that some of his own 
wares were left in return. The manner in which these 
ostriches, whose flesh supplied food while their feathers 
ftirnished orng,ments, were snared deserves notice. Plumes 
of feathers were affixed to a stick, made to resemble the 
head and neck of the bird. Behind these decoys the hunter 
concealed himself and, moving onwards, drove the ostriches 
into some narrow tongue of land, across which strong nets 
were placed to intercept the return of the bird, which runs, 
but cannot fly.* Dogs were then set upon the prey, which 
was thus taken. 

* It is to be understood that in this volume objects of Natural History 
aye of\,en described accprding to the notions of early yoyagers, and no> 
ps further research and observation, and the discoyeries £«id cjpsi/ic^ 
te).ns of science, w&rraat. 



CRESS AND MANNERS 01* THE INDIANS. t\ 

The choice of the place in which the fleet now lay had 
been dictated by necessity alone. On the 15th it was 
abandoned, and on the 17th they anchored in a good port, 
in 47i° south. Here seals were so plentiful that upwards 
of 200 were killed in an hour. While the crews were fill- 
ing the water-butts, killing seals, and salting birds for fu- 
ture provision, Draie in the Pelican, and Captain Wintei' 
in the Elizabeth, set out on different courses in quest of the 
•Swan and the Portuguese prize. On the same day Drake fell 
in with the Swan, and, before attempting the straits, formed 
the prudent resolution of diminishing the cares and hazards 
of the voyage by reducing the number of his ships. The 
Swan was accordingly broken up for firewood, after all hei' 
materials and stores had been removed. 

When the ships had lain here a few days, a party of the 
natives came to the shore, dancing, leaping, and making 
signs of invitation to a few of the seamen then on a small 
island, which at low water communicated with the main- 
land. They were a handsome, strong, agile race, lively 
and alert. Their only covering was the skin of an animal, 
which, worn about their middle when walking, was wrapped 
round their shoulders while they squatted or lay on the 
ground. They were painted over the whole body after a 
grotesque fashion. Though fancy and ingenuity were dis- 
played in the figures and patterns, and in the contrast and 
variety of colours, it is reasonable to conclude that the 
practice had its origin in utility, and was adopted as a de- 
fence against cold, ornament being at first only a secondary 
consideration, though, as in more refined regions, it some- 
times usurped the place of the principal object. These 
Indians being first painted all over, on this groundwork 
many freaks of fancy were displayed: white fiill-moona 
were exhibited to advantage on a black ground, and black 
suns on a white one. Some had one shoulder black and 
the other white ; but these were probably persons who 
carried the mode to the extreme. 

On seeing that the signals made were interpreted in a 
friendly way, Drake sent a boat to the shore with bells, cut- 
lery, and such small wares as were likely to be attractive and 
acceptable to the tastes of the natives. As the boat neared th& 
shore, two of the group, who had been standing on a height^ 
moved swiftly down, but stopped short at a little distaaee 



72 DEPARTURE FROM SEAL BaY. 

The presents were fastened to a pole, and left on the beach , 
and after the boat put off they were removed, and in return 
such feathers as the natives wore, and the carved bones 
which they used as ornaments, were deposited near or fast- 
ened to the same pole. Thus a friendly, if not profitable 
or useful, traffic was established. For such trifles as the 
English bestowed they gave in return the only articles 
they possessed to which value was attached. These were 
bows, arrows made of reeds and pointed v/ith flint, feathers, 
and carved bones. Their mode of exchange was to have 
every thing placed on the ground, from whence the goods 
were removed, and the article bartered for substituted. By 
some of the voyagers these people are described as of gi- 
gantic stature. They were of a gay and cheerful disposi- 
tion ; the sound of the trumpets delighted them ; and they 
danced merrily with the sailors. One of their number, who 
had tasted wine, and became, it is stated, intoxicated with 
the mere smell before the glass reached his lips, always 
afterward approached the tents crying, "Wine, wine !" — 
Their principal article of food was seals, and sometimes 
the flesh of other animals ; all of which they roasted, or 
rather scorched for a few minutes, in large lumps of six 
pounds' weight, and then devoured nearly raw, — " men and 
women tearing it with their teeth like lions." 

The fleet sailed from Seal Bay, as this place was named, 
on the 3d June, and on the 12th came to anchor in a bay 
where they remained for two days, during which they 
stripped the caunter, and allowed it to drift. Drake had 
thus reduced his force to a more compact and manageable 
form. The place from which this vessel was sent adrift 
is sometimes called the Cape of Good Hope, but seems to 
have been named Cape Hope. From the 14th to the 17th 
May the fleet cruised about in search of the Mary, the 
Portuguese prize, and then came to anchor in a bay 50° 
20' south. On the 19th the missing vessel was found, and 
next day the whole squadron anchored in the Port St. 
Julian of Magellan in 40° 30' south ; where, says one 
relation, " we found the gibbet still standing on the main 
where Magellan did execute justice upon some of his re- 
bellious and discontented company." So soon as the ships 
were safely moored, Drake and some of his officers went 
off in a boat to examine the capabilities of this part of the 



UNFORTUNATE AFFRAY. 73 

coast, and on landing met two men of immense stature, 
who appeared to give them welcome. These were of the 
Patagouian tribes of Magellan. A few trifles presented to 
them were accepted with pleasure, and they were apparently 
delighted by the dexterity with which the gunner used the 
English bow in a trial of skill, sending his arrows so far 
beyond their best aim. Nothing, however, can be more 
fickle and capricious than the friendship of most savage 
tribes. An Indian of less amiable disposition than his 
companions approached, and w^ith menacmg gestures sig- 
nified to the crew to be gone. Mr. Winter, an English 
gentleman, displeased with the interruption given to their 
pastime by this churlish fellow, between jest and earnest 
drew a shaft, partly in intimidation, but also to prove the 
superiority of the English bow and skill. The bowstring 
unfortunately snapped ; and while he was repairing it a 
sudden shower of arrows v/ounded him in the shoulder and 
the side. Oliver, the gunner, instantly levelled his piece ; 
but it missed fire, and the attempt proved the signal for his 
destruction. He was pierced through with an arrow, and 
immediately dropped. At this critical moment Drake 
ordered the rest of the party to cover themselves with their 
targets and advance upon the Indians, who were fast 
mustering. With ready presence of mind, he directed his 
men, at the same time, to break every arrow aimed at them, 
as the assailants must thus soon expend their stock. The 
captain-general might at this juncture have remembered 
that in the melee where Magellan lost his life the same 
arrows were picked up by the people of Matan, and repeat- 
edly shot, as they drove the Spaniards into the water. — 
At the same instant in which he gave the order, Drake 
seized the gunner's piece, and taking aim at the man who 
had killed Oliver and begun the affray, he shot him in the 
belly. This turned the fate of the hour, and probably pre- 
vented the massacre of the whole party of English ; for 
many more of the Patagonians were seen hastening from 
the woods to support their countrymen, when the hideous 
bellowing of the wounded man struck with pani^. those 
already engaged, and the whole fled. It was not thought 
prudent to pursue them, nor even to tarry on shorre ; Mr. 
Winter was therefore borne oflf to the ships ; but in the 
haste of embarkation the body of the gunner was left. — 
G 



74 STATURE OF THE INDIANS. 

Next day, when looked after, the body was found unmjured, 
save that an Enghsh arrow had been thrust into the left 
eye. The clothes were in part stripped off, and formed 
into' a pillow or truss, which was placed under the head of 
the corpse. Winter soon afterward died of his wounds. 

This unfortunate affray ap'pears to have been more the 
consequence of misunderstanding than design ; and the 
usage of the dead body and subsequent conduct of the natives 
evince a less revengeful and ferocious disposition than is 
usually displayed even among the mildest savage tribes 
when inflamed by recent ba<^tle. Uuring the remainder of 
the time that the fleet lay here no further molestation was 
offered to the Enghsh. 

The stature of these tribes, and of those in the straits, 
has been the subject of dispute among navigators from the 
voyage of Magellan to our own times, each succeeding 
band being unwilling to yield an inch to their precursors, 
or to meet with " giants" less formidable than those which 
had been previously seen. Cliffe, however, says, " they 
were of ordinary height, and that he had seen Englishmen 
taller than any of them ;" and then, like a true seaman of 
the period, he imputes their exaggerated stature to the 
" lies" of the Spaniards, from whom no good thing could 
come ; and who, in the imaginary impunity of escaping de- 
tection from the navigators of other nations, related these 
marvellous tales. " The World Encompassed" makes the 
height of these people seven feet and a half. It is not un- 
likely that the mists, haze, and storms through which the 
natives were often partially seen in the straits, of on those 
wild coasts, perched on a rock or grovelling on the ground, 
may be the origin of the pigmies and giants of the early 
navigators ; but that tribes of tall though not gigantic sta- 
ture were seen in the South Sea islands, and also on the 
western coasts of the continent of America, from its south- 
ern extremity as far north as was then explored, does not 
admit of doubt.* 



* The Patagonian race is still among the least known of all the South 
American tribes. There is no doubt, however, of its existence, nor of 
the fact that it is characterized by proportions exceeding the ordinary- 
dimensions of mankind. The Pata'gonian people are of limited numbers, 
and inhabit the eastern shores of the most southern point of the New 
World, under a cold and steril clime. They wander about from one 



TRIAL OF DOUGHTY. 75 

While the fleet lay at Port St. Julian an event occurred, 
which, as the contradictory evidence is viewed, roust either 
be termed the most heroic or the most questionable act in 
the life of Admiral Drake. Mr. Thomas Doughty, a man 
of talent, and too probably of ill-regulated ambition, had 
served as an officer in the fleet, and it is said enjoyed in a 
high degree the affection and confidence of the captain-gen- 
eral, who must voluntarily have selected him as one of his 
company. Doughty was at this place accused of conspiracy 
and mutiny ; of a plan to massacre Drake and the prin- 
cipal officers, and thus defeat the whole expedition ; as if 
the first-imagined crime did not constitute sufficient guilt. 
The details of this singular affair are scanty, obscure, and 
perplexed ; and no contemporary writer notices any spe- 
cific fact or ground of charge. The offence of Doughty 
is purely constructive. Cliffe dismisses the subject in 
one seaman-like sentence, merely saying, " Mr. Thomas 
Doughty was brought to his answer, — accused, convicted, 
and beheaded." The account in " The World Encom- 
passed" is more elaborate, and for Drake apologetic, but 
not much more satisfactory. It contains strong general 
charges, but no record of facts, nor a shadow of proof of the 
general allegations. These early chroniclers appear either 
thoroughly convinced of the guilt of the culprit, or indiffer- 
ent to the propriety of convincing others of the justice and 
necessity of their captain's sentence, or they were fully con- 
vinced that the accused merited his fate. Doughty had pre- 
viously been called in question for his conduct in accepting 
gifts or bribes while in the Portuguese prize, and he had 
afterward strayed once or twice with the same vessel, which 

district to another, and are but imperfectly civilized. Their disposi 
tions, however, are peaceable, althougti their great bodily strength 
would seem to fit them for warlike enterprise ; but it sometimes hap- 
pens that gigantic forms are not accompanied by a corresponding increase 
of physical energy. The average height of these people is about six 
feet,— an altitude which Is also extremely frequent among the chiefs and 
nobles of the South Sea islands. The complexion of the Patagoniatis is 
tawny; their hair, of which the colour is black or brown, is lank, and 
for the most part very long. It appears that this tribe have succeeded 
in the training of horses,— an unusual accomplishment in a tribe other- 
wise so uncivilized ; but this, of course, must have been a compara- 
tlYely modern exercise of their ingenuity, as horses were unknown in 
America prior to the period of the Spanish conquest. 



76 



EXECUTION OF DOUGHTY. 



was burnt to prevent like accidents. According to one ac- 
count his treason was of old date ; and before the fleet left 
Plymouth he had been hatching plots against his com- 
mander, who refused to believe " that one he so dearly loved 
would conceive evil against him, till perceiving that lenity 
and favour did little good, he thought it high time to call 
those practices in question, and, therefore, setting good 
watch over him, and assembling all his captains and gentle- 
men of his company together, he propounded to them the 
good parts that were in this gentleman, and the great good- 
will and inward affection, more than brotherly, which he 
had, ever since his first acquaintance, borne him, and after- 
ward delivered the letters which were written to him 
(Drake), with the particulars from time to time, which had 
been observed not so much by himself as by his good 
friends ; not only at sea, but even at Plymouth ; not bare 
words, but writings ; not writings, but actions, tending to 
the- overthrow of the service in hand, and making away 
his person. Proofs were required, and alleged so many 
and so evident, that the gentleman himself, stricken with 
remorse, acknowledged himself to have deserved death, 
yea, many deaths ; for that he conspired, not only the over- 
throw of the action, but of the principal actor also." The 
account continues in the same strain, asserting that forty 
of the principal men of Drake's band adjudged the culprit 
to deserve death, and gave this judgment under their hand 
and seal, leaving the manner to the general, who allowed 
the unfortunate man the choice of being either abandoned 
on the coast, taken back to England to answer to the lords 
of the queen's council, or executed here. He chose the lat- 
ter, requesting, it is said, that he might " once more receive 
the holy communion with the captain- general before his 
death, and that he might not die other than the death of a 
gentleman." The circumstances of the execution are 
striking. Mr. Fletcher celebrated the communion on the 
next day. Drake received the sacrament with the con- 
demned man, and afterward they dined together " at the 
same table, as cheerfully in sobriety as ever in their lives 
they had done ; and taking their leaves, by drinking to each 
other, as if some short journey only had been in hand,'* 
Without further delay, all things being in readiness, Doughty 



OPINIONS OF CAMDEN AND FLETCHER. 77 

walked forth, requested the bystanders to pray for him, and 
submitted his neck to the executioner. 

Camden's version of this transaction does not differ ma- 
terially from the above. The chaplain of the fleet, Mr. 
Francis Fletcher, left a manuscript journal of the voyage, 
now deposited in the British Museum, which contradicts 
njany of the important statements in the other relations. 
He asserts that the criminal utterly denied the truth of the 
charges against him, upon his salvation, at the time of com- 
municating, and at the hour and moment of his death. Mr. 
Fletcher likewise affirms that no choice of life or death was 
given him upon any conditions. It is evident, that in the 
opinion of the chaplain Doughty was an innocent and a 
murdered man ; the victim of a conspiracy not rigidly sifted 
by the general, and in which the actors too probably con- 
sulted his secret wishes. 

The fleet had not long left England when the affair of 
the Portuguese prisoners, in which there might be dishon- 
our, but no crime deserving severity of punishment, and still 
less death, was brought against him. But in Port St. Ju- 
lian, Fletcher remarks, " more dangerous matter is laid to 
his charge, and by the same persons (John Brewer, Ed- 
ward Bright, and others of their friends), namely, for words 
spoken by him to them in the general's garden at Plymouth, 
which it had been their part and duty to have discovered 
them at the time, and not have concealed them for a time and 
place not so fitting." Besides the vague charges made of 
plots and mutinous conduct, and the anomalous offence of 
being " an emulator of the glory of his commander," another 
cause is assigned for the death of Doughty, which, if it were 
supported by reasonable proof, would fix a deeper stigma on 
the character of Drake than all his other questionable deeds 
put together. In England the age of dark iniquitous in- 
trigue had succeeded the times of ferocity and open vio- 
lence ; but the dependants and partisans of the leading men 
in the state were still as criminally subservient to the flagi- 
tious designs of their patrons as when their daggers had 
been freely drawn in their service, It was alleged that 
Captain Drake had carried this man to sea to rid the pow- 
erful Earl of Leicester of a dangerous prater, and in time 
and place convenient to revenge his quarrel. 
G3 



78 CHARACTER OF DRAKE. 

It is probable that the intimacy of Doughty with Captain 
Drake had commenced in Ireland, as both had served under 
Essex ; and it is affirmed that the real crime of the former 
was accusing Leicester of plotting the secret murder of his 
noble rival, of which few men in Englar.d belisved him 
wholly guiltless. On the other hand, Essex was the patron 
of Drake, who, it is reasonably urged, was thus much more 
likely to protect than punish a friend brought into trouble 
for freedom of speech on an occasion that would have 
moved stocks or stones. It may be further pleaded in be- 
half of Drake, that, with the exception of the chaplain, 
whose relation has however every mark of sincerity and 
good faitli, no man nor officer in the fleet has left any re- 
cord or surmise of objection to the justice of the execu- 
tion, though the affair, after the return of the expedition, 
was keenly canvassed in England.* In his whole course of 
life, Drake maintained the character of integrity and hu- 
manity ; nor did he lack generosity in fitting season. He 
at all times discovered a strong sense of religion, and of 
moral obligation, save in the case of the Spaniards and 
*' Portugals," for which, however, " sea-divinity" afforded 
an especial exception. That he could have put an innocent 
man to death to conceal the crimes, or execute the ven- 
geance of Leicester, is too monstrous for belief; and that, 
conscious of the deepest injustice, he should have gone 
through the solemn religious observances which preceded 
the perpetration of his crime, presents a picture of odious 
hypocrisy and cold-blooded cruelty more worthy of a demon 
than a brave man. The case resolves itself into the simple 
necessity of maintaining discipline in the fleet, and sustain- 
ing that personal authority which, in a commander, is a 
duty even more important than self-preservation. Drake's 
notions of authority might have been somewhat over- 
strained ; nor is it unlikely that he unconsciously imbibed 
slight feelings of jealousy of " this emulator of his glory." 
Every one who mentions Doughty speaks of him as a man 

* In an old relation (written by himself) of the adventures of " Peter 
Carder, a shipwrecked Seaman," belonging to Drake's fleet, we find 
that when, after his long detention and miraculous escape from the 
savages and the " Portugals," he returned to England, on beingexamined 
before the queen, and relating his marvellous haps, she questioned hnn 
''of the manner of Master Doughty's execution." 



of great endowments. Mr. Fletcher is warm in his praise. 
"An industrious and stout man," says Camden, even when 
relating his crimes, and one, it appears, of sufficient con- 
sequence to be imagined the cause of disquiet to the still all- 
pdwei'ful Leicester. 

Immediately after the execution, Drake, who to his other 
qualities added the gift of a bold natural eloquence, addressed 
his whole company, " persuading us to unity, obedience, 
love, and regard of our voyage ; and for the better confirma- 
tion thereof, wished every man the next Sunday following, to 
prepare himself to receive the communion as Christian 
brethren and friends ought to do ; which was done in very 
reverent sort, and so with good contentment every man 
went about his business." 

Doubt and darkness will, however, always hang over this 
transaction, though probably only from the simple reason of 
no formal record being kept of the proceedings. Doughty 
was buried with Mr. Winter and the gunner on an island in 
the harbour, and the chaplain relates that he erected a stone, 
and on it cut tiie names of these unfortunate Englishmen, 
and the date of their burial. 

The ships, by the breaking up of the Portuguese prize, 
were now reduced to three ; and being " trimmed" and sup- 
plied with wood and water, and such other necessaries as 
could be obtained, they sailed from this " port accursed" on 
the 17th August. ClifTe relates, that while they lay here, 
the weather, though in July and August, was as cold as at 
mid-winter in England. On the 20th they made Cape de 
las Virgines, entered the strait, and on the 24th anchored 
30 leagues within it. 

There is a considerable variation in the relations of 
Drake's passage of the straits. The statements are even 
absolutely contradictory on some points, though the dis- 
agreements, when the facts are sifted, are more apparent 
than real, every narrator noting only Vv^hat he had himself 
witnessed or casually gathered from the information of 
others. The original narrative of the passage by the Por- 
tuguese pilot, Nuno de Silva, is among the most interesting 
and accurate ; but in the present account an attempt is made 
to combine whatever appears most strikingand important in 
the different relations. The eastern mouth of the strait 
was found about a league broad ; the land bare and flat. 



80 PIGMIES IN THE STRAITS. 

On the north side Indians were seen making great fires ; 
but on the south no inhabitants appeared. The length was 
computed at 110 leagues. The tide was seen to rise (set- 
ting in from both sides) about fifteen feet. It met about the 
middle, or rather nearer the western entrance. The me- 
dium breadth was one league. Where the ships came to 
anchor on the 24th were three small islands, on which they 
killed 3000 " of birds (penguins) having no wings, but 
short pinions which serve their turn in swimming." They 
were as " fat as an English goose." 

" The land on both sides was very huge icnd mountain- 
ous ; the lower mountains whereof, although ^.hey be very 
monstrous to look upon for their height, yet thert are others 
which in height exceed them in a strange manner, reaching 
themselves above their followers so high that between them 
did appear three regions of clouds. These mountains are 
covered with snow at both the southerly and easterly parts 
of the strait.. There are islands among which the sea hath 
his indraught into the straits even as it hath at the main 
entrance. The sttait is extreme cold, with frost and snow 
continually. The trees seem to stoop with the burden of 
the weather, and yet are green continually, and many good 
and sweet herbs do very plentifully increase and grow under 
them." 

Such are the natural appearances described. Near the 
western entrance a number of narrow channels, with which 
the whole of that side abounds, occasioned some difficulty 
in the navigation ; and Drake, with his usnal caution, 
brought the fleet to anchor near an island, while he went 
out in his boat to explore these various openings to the 
South Sea. In this expedition Indians of the pigmy race, 
attributed to a region abounding in all monstrous things, 
were seen ; though both the gigantic and diminutive size 
of these tribes are brought in question even by contempo- 
rary relations. Yet these pigmy Indians were seen close 
at hand, in a canoe ingeniously constructed of the baA of 
trees, of which material the people also formed vessels for 
domestic use. The canoes were semicircular, being high 
in tlie prow and stern. The seams were secured by a 
lacing of thongs of sealskin, and fitted so nicely that there 
was littfe leakage. The tools of these ingenious small 
folks were formed of the shell of a very large species of 



THE FLEET ENTERS THE SOUTH SEA. 81 

muscle, containing seed-pearls, which was found in the 
straits. These shells they tempered, if the word may be 
used, so skilfully that they cut the hardest wood, and even 
bone. One of their dwellings, which might, however, be 
but a fishing-hut, was seen rudely formed of sticks stuck 
in the ground, over which skins were stretched. 

Early in Septeinber the western entrance was reached ; 
and, on the 6tli of the same month, Drake attained the 
long-desired happiness of sailing an English ship on the 
South Sea. 

The passage of Drake was the quickest* and easiest that 
had yet been made, fortune favouring him here as at every 
other point of this voyage. The temperature was also 
much milder than had been experienced by former navi- 
gators, or the English seamen might probably be more hardy 
and enduring than those of Spain. 

One main object of Drake in leaving England was un- 
doubtedly the discovery of a north-west passage, by follow- 
ing the bold and novel track his genius chalked out, and in 
which lie might still hope to anticipate all other adventurers, 
whether their career commenced from the east or the west. 
On clearing the straits he accordingly held a north-west 
course, and in two days the fleet had advanced 70 leagues. 
Here it was overtaken by a violent and steady gale from 
the north-east, which drove them into 57° south latitude, and 
200 leagues to the west of Magellan's Straits. While 
still driving before the wind under bare poles'^ the moon 
was eclipsed at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, 
but produced neither abatement nor change of the wind. 
" Neither did the ecliptical conflict of the moon improve our 
state, nor her clearing again mend us a whit, but the accus- 
tomed eclipse of the sea continued in his force, we being 
darkened more than the moon sevenfold." 

On the 24th the weather became more moderate, the wind 
shifted, and they partly retraced their course, for seven 
days standing to the north-east, during which land was 
seen, near which a vain attempt was made to anchor. 
Their troubles did not end here, — once more the wind got 
back to its old quarter, and with great violence ; and on the 

* Lopez Vaz makes the time spent in passing the straits only twelve 
days, and it could not be above fifteen, where months had been occupied 
by less fortunate or skilful navigators. 



82 RETURN OF CAPTAIN WINTER. 

30th the Marigold was separated from the Elizabeth and 
the Golden Hind, as Drake on entering the South SeEi had 
named his ship, in compliment it is said to his patron Sir 
Christopher Hatton. They made the land ; but the Marigold 
was borne to sea by the stress of the gale, and was never 
heard of more I We do not even find a conjecture breathed 
about the fate of this ship. On the evening of the 7th 
October the Golden Hind and Elizabeth made a bay near 
the western entrance of Magellan's Straits, which was 
afterward named the Bay of Parting Friends ; and here 
they intended to lie by till the weather improved. During 
the night the cable of the Hind broke, and she drove to sea ; 
nor did Captain Winter, in the Elizabeth, make any attempt 
to follow his commander. Heartily tired of a voyage of 
which he had just had so unpleasant a specimen, he next 
day entered the straits, secretly purposing to return home. 
Edward ClifFe, who sailed in the Elizabeth, and whose 
relation stops with her return to England, stoutly denies 
for the seamen the craven intention of abandoning their 
commander, Captain Drake ; and even asserts that some 
efforts were made to find the admiral's ship, thou^ of a 
very passive kind. Anchoring in a bay within the straits, 
fires were kindled on the shore ; so that, if Drake sought 
them in this direction and on that day, there was a chance 
of his finding them. This duty discharged, they went into 
secure harbourage in a place which they named Port Health, 
from the rapid recovery of the crew, who had lately suffered 
so much from cold, wet, and fatigue. In the large muscles 
and other shellfish found here they obtained pleasant and 
restorative food ; and remained till the beginning of No- 
vember, when the voyage was formally abandoned, "on 
Mr. Winter's compulsion, and full sore against the mariners' 
minds." Winter alleged that he now despaired of the 
captain-general's safety, or of being a.ble to hold his 
course with the Elizabeth for the imagined Ophir of New 
Spain. 

It was the 11th November before the Elizabeth got clear 
of the straits, — an eastward voyage that had only been 
once performed, and by a Spanish navigator, Ladrilleros, 
twenty years before, and believed to be next to impossible, 
—and June in the following year before Winter returned to 
England, with the credit of having made the passage of the 



THE CREW OF THE SHALLOP. 83 

straits eastward, and the shame of having deserted his 
commander, while his company, with nobler spirit, showed 
unshaken fidelity and unabated ardour. 

There is more interest in following the fortunes of the 
Hind, which we left tossed about in the misnamed Pacific. 
Drake was once more carried back to 55° south, when he 
judged it expedient to run in among the islands or broken 
land of Tierra del Fuego ; where, together with a supply 
of seals and fresh water, a season of repose was found from 
the continual fatigues of the last month. But this interval 
of ease was of short duration ; they were once more driven- 
to sea in a gale, and suffered the further calamity of being 
parted from the shallop, in which were eight seamen with 
almost no provisions. While the Hind drove farther and 
farther south, the shallop was in the first instance so far 
fortunate as to regain the straits, where the men salted and 
stored penguins for future supply. They soon lost all hope 
of rejoining the captain-general ; so, passing the straits, 
they contrived to make, in their frail bark, first for Port St. 
Julian, and afterward Rio de la Plata, where six of them, 
wandering into the woods in quest of food, were attacked 
by a party of Indians. All were wounded with arrows ; 
but, while four were made prisoners, two escaped, and 
joined their two comrades left in charge of the boat. The 
Indians pursued, and the whole four were wounded before 
the natives were beaten back and the shallop got ofif. The 
Englishmen made for a small island at three leagues' dis- 
tance, where two of their number died of their wounds : — 
nor was this the last calamity they were to endure ; the 
shallop was dashed to pieces in a storm. 

A melancholy interest is connected wjth this fragment 
of Drake's original company. On the desolate island in 
which they remained for two months no fresh water was 
to be found ; and though they obtained food from eels, 
small crabs, and a species of fruit resembling an orange, 
their sufferings from intense thirst came to an extremity 
too painful and revolting to be made the subject of narra- 
tive. At the end of two months a plank ten feet long, 
which had drifted from Rio de la Plata, was picked up, 
smaller sticks were fastened to it, and a store of provision 
was laid in ; then committing themselves to God, paddling 
and clinging to this ark, they in three days and two nights 



84 drake's discoveries in the south. 

made the mainland, which had so long tantalized their 
sight. In relating the issue of this adventure, the words 
of Peter Carder, the survivor, are adopted : — " At our first 
coming on land we found a little river of sweet and pleasant 
water, where William Pitcher, my only comfort and com- 
panion, although I dissuaded him to the contrary, overdrank 
hiniself, being perished before ynth extreme tliirst ; and, to 
my unspeakable grief and discomfort, died half an hour 
after in my presence, whom I buried as well as I could in 
the sand." 

The subsequent adventures of Peter Carder among the 
savages on the coast of Brazil, and his captivity among the 
Portuguese of Bahia de Todos los Santos, form an amus- 
ing and interesting section of Purchas's Pilgrims. After a 
nine years' absence he got back to England, and had the 
honour of relating his adventures before Queen Elizabeth, 
who presented him with twenty-two angels, and recom- 
mended him to her lord high admiral, Howard. — To return 
to Drake. His ship, now driven southward farther than 
before, again ran in among the islands. This is an import- 
ant stage in the navigation of Drake as a voyage of dis- 
covery. He had reached the southern extremity of the 
American continent, and been driven round it ; for *' here 
no land was seen, but the Atlantic and South Sea meeting 
in a large free scope." 

On the 28th October the weather, which since the 6th 
September, when they entered the Pacific, had been nearly 
one continued hurricane, became moderate, and the Golden 
Hind came to anchor in twenty fathoms water, though within 
a gunshot of the land, in a harbour of an island of which the 
southern point has long been known as Cape Horn. 

Sir Richard Hawkins, the son of Sir John, and the re- 
puted kinsman of Admiral Drake, relates that he was in- 
formed by the navigator himself that " at the end of the great 
storm he found himself in 50° S.,"- which was sufficient 
proof that he had been beaten round without the strait ; 
and, moreover, that from the change of the wind not being 
able to double the southernmost island, he anchored under 
the lee of it, cast himself down upon the extreme point, and 

f The only authority now to be found makes the latitude 50° S. ; but 
tt is probably a mistake of the amanuensis or printer, and should be 56*^ 



ATTACK OF THE CHILIANS. 85 

reached over as far as was safe ; and after the ship sailed 
told his company that he had been " upon the southernmost 
point of lancl in the world known or likely to be known, and 
farther than any man had ever before ventured." 

Mr. Fletcher, the chaplain, also landed here. He found 
this island three parts of a degree farther south than any of 
the other islands. 

To all the islands discovered here Drake gave the general 
name of the Elizabethides, in compliment to his royal mis- 
tress. They were inhabited, and the natives were fre- 
quently seen, though little appears to have been learned of 
their character or customs. 

Having thus discovered and landed on the southernmost 
part of the continent, Drake changed the Terra Incognita 
of the Spanish geographers into the Terra bene nunc Cog- 
nita of his chaplain, and on the 30th October, with a fair 
wind from the south, he held a course north-west ; but being 
bent on exploring, afterward kept east, not to lose the coast. 
On the 25th November they anchored at the island of Mocha, 
off the coast of Chili, where the captain-general landed. 
Cattle and sheep were seen here, and also maize and pota- 
toes. Presents were exchanged with the Indians, and next 
day a watering party, which Drake accompanied, rowed to- 
wards the shore, in full security of their pacific disposi '-.ions. 
Two seamen who landed to fill the water-casks were in- 
stantly killed, and the rest of the party narrowly escaped an 
ambush laid for them in case they should come to the assist- 
ance of their countrymen. They were fiercely assailed 
with arrows and stones, and every one was wounded more 
or less severely. The general was wounded both in the 
face and on the head, and the attack was continued so 
warmly and close that the Indians seized four of the oars. 
This unprovoked attack was imputed by the ship's company 
to the hatred which the inhabitants of Chili bore the Span- 
iards, whom, it was presumed, they had not yet learned to 
distinguish from other Europeans. In this view it was for- 
given by men whose prejudices and animosity were equally 
strong with those of the Indians. 

Sailing along the coast, with the wind at south, on the 
30th November they anchored in a bay about 32° S., and 
sent out a boat to examine the shores, which captured and 
brought before the captain an Indian found fishing in his 



86 CAPTURE OF THE GRAND CAPTAIN. 

canoe. This man was kindly treated. A present of linen 
and a chopping-knife gained his affections, and ha bore the 
message of Drake to his countrymen, who, induced by the 
hope of Uke gifts, brought to the ship's side a fat hog and 
poultry. It was at this time of more consequence to one 
main object of the voyagers, v/ho, doing much for the glory 
of England and Elizabeth, wished at the same time to do a 
little for themselves, that an intelligent Indian repaired to 
the ship who spoke the Spanish language, and, believing 
them mariners of that nation, unwittingly gave them much, 
valuable infonnation. From him they learned that they had 
by six leagues oversailed Valparaiso, the port of St. Jago, 
where a Spanish vessel then lay at anchor. The innocent 
offer of Felipe, when he saw their disappointment, to pilot 
them back was eagerly accepted. On the 4th December 
they sailed from Philip's Bay, as they named this harbour 
in honour of their Indian pilot, and next day, without any 
difficulty, captured the ship, the Grand Captain of the South 
Seas, in which were found 60,000 pesos of gold, besides jew- 
els, merchandise, and 1770 jars of Chili wine. This was a 
joyful beginning ; each peso v/as reckoned worth eight shil- 
lings. The people of the town, which consisted of '^nly 
nine famiUes, fled ; and Drake's followers revelled in the 
unforbidden luxury of a general pillage of wine, bread, 
bacon, and other things most acceptable to men who j^ad 
been so long at sea, both for present refreshment and also 
for storing the ship. In every new Spanish settlement, 
however small, a church rose as it were simultaneously. 
The small chapel of Valparaiso was plundered of a silver 
chalice, two cruets, and its altar-cloth, which, to prevent 
their desecration and to obtain a blessing on the voyage, 
were presented to Fletcher, the pasJ;or of this ocean-flock. 
They sailed on the 8th with their prize, taking, however, 
only one of the crew, a Greek named Juan Griego, who was 
capable of piloting them to Lima. Their Indian guide Fe- 
lipe was rewarded, and sent on shore near his own home. 
From the most southern point of this coasting voyage Drake 
had been continually on the outlook for the Marigold and 
Elizabeth; and the Hind being too unwieldy to keep in 
near the coast in the search, a pinnace was intended to be 
built for this duty as well as for other operations which the 
captain-general kept in view. A convenient place for this 



CAPTURE or TREASURE. 87 

purpose had been found at Coquimbo. Near the spot se- 
lected the Spaniards had raised or collected a considerable 
force ; and a watering-party of fourteen of the English was 
here surprised, and with some difficulty escaped from a body 
of 300 horse and 200 foot. One seaman was killed, owing, 
however, to his own braggart temerity. 

In a quieter and safer bay the pinnace was set up, and 
Drake himself embarked in it to look after the strayed ships ; 
but the wind beccm.ing adverse he soon returned. They 
quitted this harbour on the 19ch January, 1579, invigorated 
by a season of repose, by the refreshments and booty ob- 
tained, and by the hopes of richer plunder and more glorious 
conquest. With few adventures they sailed along the coast, 
till accidentally landing at Tarapaza they found a Spaniard 
asleep on the shore, with thirteen bars of silver lying beside 
him, as if waiting their arrival. Advancing a little farther, 
on landing to procure water, they fell in with a Spaniard 
and an Indian boy driving eight lamas, each of which was 
laden with two leathern bags containing 501bs. of silver, or 
8001bs. in all. The lamas, or Peruvian sheep, are described 
by the old voyagers as of the size of an ass, with a neck 
like a camel, and of great strength and steadiness, forming 
the beast of burden of these countries. They were indeed 
the mules of the New World, but a much more valuable ani- 
mal, as the wool is fine and the flesh good. The credulity 
of the most credulous of the family of John Bull — his sons 
of the ocean — was here amusingly displayed. If the coast 
of Peru was not literally strewed with gold, pure silver was 
found so richly mixed with the soil that every hundred- weight 
of common earth yielded, on a moderate calculation, five 
ounces. 

The eight lamas and their precious burden being brought 
on board, the Golden Hind next entered the port of Arica, 
where two or three small barks then lay. These, Avhen 
rifled, were found perfectly unprotected, the crews being on 
shore, unable to imagine danger on this coast. Arica is 
described as a beautiful and fertile valley. The tov/n con- 
tained about twenty houses, which, the Famous Voyage 
states, " we would have ransacked if our company had been 
better and more numerous ; but our general, contented with 
ihe spoil of the ships, put to sea, and sailed for Lima" in 
pursuit of a vessel very richly laden, of which they had ob- 



88 THE CACAFUEGO. 

tained intelligence. The ship, of v,rhich they were now m 
hot pursuit, got notice of her danger in time to land the 
treasure with which she was freighted, — eight hundred bars 
of silver, the property of the King of Spain. Drake, now 
preparing for active measures, rid himself of every encum- 
brance by setting all the sails of his prizes, and turning 
them adrift whithersoever the winds might carry them. The 
a,rrival of these tenantless barks on some wild coast or 
lonely island may yet form the theme of Indian tradition, 
though more probably they must all have been dashed to 
pieces. 

Tidings of the English being upon the coast had by this 
time been despatched overland to the governor at Lima ; but 
the difficulty of travelling in these still tangled and trackless 
regions enabled Drake to outstrip the messenger, and on 
the 13th September to surprise the Spanish ships lying in 
Callao, the port of Lima. The spoil was trifling for the 
number of vessels. In boarding a ship from Panama, which 
was just then entering the port, an Englishman was killed. 
Another account says he was shot from a boat while pur- 
suing the crew, who were abandoning the vessel. In one 
ship a chest of ryals of plate and a considerable store of 
linens, silks, and general merchandise were obtained. From 
the prisoners Drtdce learned that ten days before (Lopez Vaz 
makes it but three) the Cacafuego, laden with treasure, had 
sailed for Panama, the point from whence all goods were 
carried across the isthmus. This information at once de- 
termined the course of our navigator ; and as ships from 
Callao to Panama were in the habit of touching at interme- 
diate places, he reckoned the Cacafuego already hi^ prize. 
As a measure of precaution the mainmasts of the two largest 
prizes found here were cut away, the cables of the smaller 
ones were severed, and, the goods and people being pre- 
viously removed, the whole were abandoned to the mercy 
of the winds and waves ; while Drake bore northward in full 
sail, or when the wind slackened v^^as towed on by the 
boats, each man straining to reach the golden goal. But 
this rather anticipates the course of the narrative. 

When intelligence of Drake's ship at last reached Lima, 
it was presumed some of the Spanish crews had mutinied, 
and that the Golden Hind was a Spanish vessel turned pi- 
rate, so little was an attack by the English on this side of 



MEASURES OF THE VICEROY. 89 

the continent deemed possible, or that the ships of any na- 
tion save Spain could pass the intricate and fatal Straits of 
Magellan. On being apprized of the real fact and of the 
danger impending, Don Francisco de Toledo, the viceroy at 
Lima, immediately repaired to the port with a force esti- 
mated by Lopez Vaz at 2000 horse and foot. The Golden 
Hind still remained in sight of the port, and nearly becahned. 
Two vessels, in each of which 200 fighting men were em- 
barked, were equipped in all haste, and the capture of Drake, 
the pirate-heretic, was already confidently reckoned upon. 
At the same hour in which they left the port to make the 
attack a fresh gale sprung up, and the English ship pressed 
onward. The flight and pursuit were continued for some 
time, as it was not the policy of Drake, with his very infe- 
rior force, to risk an action. By an oversight, most for- 
tunate for the English, the Spaniards, in their eagerness 
and confidence of an easy conquest, had neglected to take 
provisions on board. Famine compelled them to abandon 
the pursuit, but Don Francisco lost- no time in remedying 
this inadvertence. A force of three ships, fully equipped, 
was despatched under the command of Pedro Sarmiento de 
Gamboa, but arrived too late. The same commander after- 
ward long watched, and waited in vain, the return of Drake 
by the straits. On his recommendation they were after- 
ward fortified and a colony planted, — an abortive attempt 
which cost Spain much treasure and many lives. 

Near Payti a small vessel, in which spme silver ornaments 
were found, was rifled and dismissed ; and on passing Payti, 
from the crew of a vessel which was searched they learned 
that the Caeafuego had the start of them now only by two 
days. Eveiy nerve was fresh-braced for pursuit ; but the 
future advantage hoped for did not lead them in the mean 
time to despise present small gains. Two more vessels 
were intercepted, rifled, and turned adrift, the crews being 
first landed. In one of these some silver and 801bs. of gold 
were found, and a golden crucifix, in which was set " a 
goodly and great emerald." They also found a good sup- 
ply of useful stores and a large quantity of cordage, which 
made most part of the cargo. On the 24th February they 
crossed the line, the Caeafuego still ahead and unseen ; and 
Drake, to animate the hopes and quicken the vigilance of 
his company, offered as a reward to whoever should first 
H2 



90 CAPTURE OF THE CACAFUEGO. 

descry the prize the gold chain which he usually wore. The 
reward was gained by Mr. John Drake, who at three o'clock 
in the afternoon of the 1st of March, from the mast-head, 
discerned the prize, which by six o'clock was boarded and 
taken. This capture was made off Cape Francisco. The 
captain, a Biscayan named Juan de Anton, was so little 
aware of his danger, that seeing a vessel coming up to him 
under a press of sail, he concluded that the viceroy had sent 
some important message, and struck his sails to await the 
approach of the Golden Hind. When aware from closer 
inspection of his mistake, he tried to escape ; but he was 
already within reach of Drake's guns, and possessed no 
defensive weapons of any kind. "Y et, with the brave spirit 
of his province, the Biscayan refused to strike till his miz- 
zenmast was shot away and he himself wounded by an 
arrow. 

This ship proved to be a prize worth gaining. It con- 
tained 28 tons of silver, 13 chests of ryals of plate, and 80 
lbs. of gold, besides diamonds and inferior gems, — the 
whole estimated at 360,000 pesos. . 

Among the spoils were two very handsome silver gilt 
bowls belonging to the pilot, of v/hich Drake demanded 
one ; which the doughty Spaniard surrendering, presented 
the other to the steward, as if he disdained to hold any 
thing by the favour of the English. The " Famous Voyage" 
records some capital salt-Vv^ater jests made on this occasion 
at the expense of the Spaniards. It must be owned that 
the laugh was wholly on the side of the English. 

Had Drake, thus richly laden, now been assured of a safe 
and an easy passage to England, it is probable that the 
Golden Hind might not on this voyage have encompassed 
the globe. The advanced season, however, and the out- 
look which he was aware the Spaniards would keep for his 
return, forbade the attempt of repassing the straits ; while 
the glory of discovery, and the hope of taking his immense 
treasure safely to England, determined him in the resolu- 
tion of seeking a north-West passage homeward. Though 
not in general communicative, his plans were no sooner 
formed than he unfolded them to the ship's company, with 
the persuasive eloquence of a man eminently fitted for com* 
mand. The crew were now in high spirits, and full of con- 
fidence in their skilful, bold, and successful leader. His 



PLUNDER OF GUATALCO. 91 

counsel, which carried all the weight of command, was " to 
seek out some convenient place to trim the ship, and store 
it with wood, water, and such provisions as could be found, 
and thenceforward to hasten our intended journey for the 
discovery of the said passage, through w^hich we might 
with joy return to our longed homes." 

With this resolution they steered for Nicaragua, and on 
the 16th March anchored in a small bay of the island of 
Canno, which proved a good station to water and refit. The 
pinnace was once more on active duty, and a prize was 
brought in laden with honey, butter, sarsaparilla, and other 
commodities. Among the papers of the prize were letters 
from the King of Spain to the governor of the Philippines, 
and sea-charts, which afterward proved of use to the Eng- 
lish. While Drake lay here a violent shock of an earth- 
quake was felt. From Canno they sailed on the 24th 
March, the captain-general never loitering in any port be- 
yond the time absolutely necessary to repair the ship and 
take in water. On the 6th April they made another valua- 
ble prize. Being already well supplied with stores, their 
choice was become more nice and difficult ; and selecting 
only silks, Imen, delicate porcelain, and a falcon of finely- 
wrought gold, in the breast of which a large emerald was 
set, the vessel was dismissed, and of her crew only a negro 
and the pilot detained, who steered them into the harbour of 
Guataico. Landing, according to their approved good prac- 
tice, to ransack the town, it is related in the Famous 
Voyage that they surprised a council then holding on cer- 
tain negroes* accused of a plot to burn the place. To their 
mutual astonishment, judges and culprits were hurried on 
board in company, and the chief men were compelled to 
write to the townspeople to make no resistance to the 
English. The only plunder found in ransacking this small 
place, in v^hich there were but fourteen persons belonging 
to Old Spain, consisted of about a bushel of ryals of plate. 
One of the party, Mr. John Winter, seeing a Spaniard 
taking flight, pursued and took from the fugitive a chain of 
gold and some jewels. This is related with great exulta- 
tion, as a feat of peculiar dexterity and merit. All the 

* Probably Indians, the name Negro or Indian being used indiscrimi' 
aatelj' by the early voyagers. 



92 DESCRIPTION OF THE CALIFORNIANS. 

Spaniards on board the Golden Hind were now set at Yih 
erty. The Portuguese pilot, Nuno Silva, who had been 
brought from the Cape de Verd Islands, was also dismissed, 
and probably at this place wrote the relation of the voyage 
from which quotations have been made in this memoir. 
Silva's account was sent to the Portuguese viceroy in India, 
and long afterward fell into the hands of the English. 

Satiated with plunder on sea and shore, Drake, on the 
16lh April, sailed on that bold project of discovery formerly 
communicated to his company, and by the 3d of June had 
gone over 1400 leagues, in diiferent courses, without see- 
ing land. They had now reached 43° north, the cold was 
become very severe, and, in advancing two or three degrees 
farther, so intense, that meat froze the instant it was removed 
from the fire, and the ropes and tackling of the ship became 
rigid from the influence of the frost. On the 5th, being 
driven in by the winds, land was seen, and they anchored 
in a small bay, too unsheltered, however, to^permit of their 
remaining. Drake had not expected to find the coast 
stretching so far westward. The wind was now become 
adverse to holding a northerly course, although the extreme 
cold, and the chill, raw, unwholesome fogs which sur- 
rounded them had made such a track desirable. The land 
seen here was in general low ; but wherever a height ap- 
peared it v^as found covered with snow, though now almost 
midsummer. The land seen was the western coast of Cali- 
fornia. On the 17th June they anchored in a good har- 
bour, on an inhabited coast. As the Hind drew near the 
shore the natives approached, and an ambassador or spokes- 
man put oflT in a canoe, who made a formal harangue, ac- 
com.panied with much gesticulation. When the oration 
was concluded, he made a profound obeisance and retired 
to the land. A second and a third time he returned in the 
same manner, bringing, as a gift or tribute, a bunch of 
feathers neatly trimmed and stuck together, and a basket 
made of rushes. Of these rushes it was afterward found 
that the natives fabricated several useful and pretiy things. 
The females, though the men were entirely naked, wore a 
sort of petticoat composed of rushes, previously stripped 
into long threads resembling hemp. They also wore deer- 
skins round their shoulders ; and some of the men occa- 
sionally used furs as a covering. It was remarked, that the 



THEIR SINGULAR MANNERS. yd 

Indians appeared as sensible to the extreme severity of the 
weather as the English seamen, — cowering, shivering, and^ 
keeping huddled together, even when wrapped up in their 
furs. The basket brought by the Indian ambassador or 
orator was filled with an herb which, in some of the original 
relations of the voyage is called tahaJi, the native name, and 
in others tobacco. The Indian was either afraid or unwil- 
ling to accept of any present from the English in return for 
this simple tribute, but picked up a hat which was sent 
afloat towards him. The kindness of Drake ultimately 
gained the confidence of these people. 

The ship had some time before sprung a leak, and it was 
here found necessary to land the goods and stores that she 
might be repaired. On the 21st this was done, though the 
natives appeared to view the movement with suspicion and 
dissatisfaction. They, however, laid aside their bows and 
arrows when requested to do so, and an exchange of 
presents further cemented the growing friendship. They 
retired apparently satisfied ; but had no sooner reached 
their huts, which stood at a considerable distance, than a 
general hov/ling and lamentation commenced, which lasted 
all night. The females especially continued shrieking in a 
wild and doleful manner, which, if not absolutely appalling 
to the Enghsh, was yet to the last degree painful. Drake, 
whose presence of mind never forsook him, and who was 
seldom lulled into false security by appearances of friend- 
ship, mistrusting the state of excitement into which the 
Indians were raised, took the precaution of intrenching the 
tents, into which the goods and the crew had been removed 
while the repairs of the ship were in progress. For the 
two days following " the night of lamentation" no native 
appeared. At the end of that time a great number seemed to 
have joined the party first seen ; and the whole assembled on 
a height overlooking the fortified station of the ship's com- 
pany, and appeared desirous of approaching the strangers. 
The ceremonies were opened by an orator or herald making 
a long speech or proclamation, vv'ith which the audience 
were understood to express assent by bowing their bodies 
at the conclusion, and 'groaning in chorus — oh ! or oh I oh ! 
After this friendly demonstration, for as such it was in- 
tended, a deputation of the assembly stuck their bows into 
the earth, and, bearing gifts of feathers and rush baskets 



94 CEREMONIAL OF THE NATIVES. 

with tabali, descended towards the fort. While tfiis was 
passing below, the women, mixed with the group on the 
height, began to shriek and howl as on the " night of lam- 
entation," to tear their jflesh with their nails, and dash 
themselves on the ground, till the blood sprung from their 
bodies. This is said, in the Faraous Voyage, to have been 
part of the orgies of their idol or demon worship. Drake, 
it is said, struck with grief and horror, and probably not 
without a tincture of superstition, ordered divine service to 
be solemnized. The natives sat silent and attentive, at 
proper pauses breathing their expressive " oil /" in token of 
assent or approbation. With the psalms, sung probably to 
one of the simple solemn chants of the old church, tbej 
appeared affected and charmed ; and they repeatedly after- 
ward requested their visiters to sing. On taking leave 
they declined the gifts tendered, either from superstitious 
dread, or as probably on the same principle which makes a 
clown at a fair afraid to accept the tempting shilling offered 
by a recruiting sergeant, — from no dislike to the coin, or 
reluctance to drink the king's health, but from great distrust 
of the motives of the giver. The voyagers, Avitl;i amusing 
self-complaisance, ascribe this fear or delicacy to the deep, 
veneration of the natives, and to their thinking "themselves 
sufficiently enriched and happy that they had free access to 
see us." 

The Indians here managed their foreign relations with 
ceremonial that might have sufficed for more refined socie- 
ties. The news of the arrival of the English having spread, 
on the 26th two heralds or pursuivants arrived at head- 
quarters, craving an audience of the captain-general on the 
part of their hioh or king. The precursor of majesty ha- 
rangued a full half-hour, his associate dictating to, or 
prompting him, and concluded by demanding tokens of 
friendship and safe conduct for the chief. These were 
cheerfully given. 

The approach of the hioh was well arranged, and impos- 
ing in effect. First came the sceptre or mace-bearer as he 
is called, though club-bearer would be the more correct 
phrase. This officer was a tall and handsome man, of 
noble presence. His staff or club of office was about five 
feet in length, and made of a dark wood. To this were 
attached two pieces of '-'^t-work or chain-work, curiously 



PROCESSION OF THE NATIVES. 95 

and delicately wrought, of a bony substance, minute, thin, 
and burnished ; and consisting of innumerable links. He 
had also a basket of tabah. These net-cau!s or chains were 
supposed to be insignia of personal rank and dignity, akin 
to the crosses, stars, and ribands of civilized nations, — 
the number of them worn denoting the degree of conse- 
quence, as the importance of a pasha is signified by the 
number of his tails. The king followed his minister, and 
in his turn was succeeded by a man of tall stature, with an 
air of natural grandeur and majesty which struck the Eng- 
Ush visiters. The royal guard came next in order. It v/as 
formed of 100 picked men, tall and martial-looking, and 
clothed in skins. Some of them wore ornamental head- 
dresses made of feathers, or of a feathery down which 
grew upon a plant of the country. The king wore about 
his shoulders a robe hiade of the slifins of the sspecies 
of marmot afterward described. Next in place in this 
national procession came the common people, every one 
painted, though in a variety of patterns, and with feathers 
stuck in the club of hair drawn up at the crown of their 
heads. The women and children brought up the rear, 
carrying each, as a propitiatory gift, a basket, in which was 
either tahah, broiled fish, or a root that the natives ate both 
raw and baked. 

Drake, seeing them so numerous, drew up his men in 
order, and under arms, within his fortification or block- 
house. At a few paces' distance the procession halted, 
and deep silence was observed, while the sceptre-bearer, 
prompted as before by another official, harangued for a full 
half-hour. His eloquent address, whatever it might im- 
port, receiving the concurrent " oh /" of the national assem- 
bly, the same orator commenced a song or chant, keeping 
time in a slow, solemn dance, performed with a stately air, 
the king and all the warriors joining both in the measure 
and the chorus. The females also moved in the dance, but 
silently. Drake could no longer doubt of their amicable 
feelings and peaceful intentions. They were admitted, still 
singing and moving in a choral dance, within the fort. The 
orations and songs were renewed and prolonged ; and the 
chief, placing one of his crowns upon the head of the cap- 
tain-general, and investing him with the other imagined 
msignia of royalty, courteously tendered him his v/hole 



06 AFFECTION FOR THE ENGLISH. 

dominions, and hailed him king ! Songs of triumph were 
raised, as if in confirmation of this solemn cession of terri- 
tory and sovereignty. Such is the interpretation which the 
old voyagers put upon a ceremony that has been more ra- 
tionally conjectured to resemble the interchange or exchange 
of names, w^hich in the South Sea islands seals the bonds 
of friendship ; or as something equivalent to a European 
host telling his visiter that he is master of the house. 
" The admiral," it is shrewdly observed, " accepted of this 
new-offered dignity in her majesty's name, and for her use ; 
it being probable that, from this donation, whether made in 
jest or earnest by these Indians, some real advantage 
might hereafter redound to the English nation and interest 
in these parts." We are expressly informed that the natives 
afterward actually worshipped their guests ; and that it 
was necessary to check their idolatrous homage. They 
roamed about among the tents, admiring all they saw, and 
expressing attachment to the English in their own peculiar 
fashion. It was for the youngest of the company these 
fondnesses were imbibed. To express affection, the Indians 
surrounded and gazed upon them, and then began to howl 
and tear their flesh till they streamed in their own blood, to 
demonstrate the liveliness and strength of their affection. 
The sam6 unnatural and uncouth shows of regard con- 
tinued to be made while the English remained on the 
coast ; and obeisances and homage were rendered, which, 
being considered as approaching to sacrifice or worship, 
were strenuously and piously disclaimed. These people 
are described as an amiable race ; of a free, tractable, 
kindly nature, without guile or treachery. To mark their 
esteem of the English, and confidence in their skill and su- 
periority, it may be noticed that they applied for medica- 
ments for their wounds and sores. 

The men, as has been noticed, were generally naked ; but 
the women, besides the short petticoat woven of peeled bul- 
rushes, wore deer skins, with the hair on, round their shoul- 
ders. They were remarked to be good wives, — very obedient 
and serviceable to their husbands. The men were so robust 
and powerful that a bTirden which could hardly be borne by 
two of the seamen, a single native would with ease carry 
up and down hill for a mile together. Their weapons were 
bows and arrows, but of a feeble, useless kind. Their 



DRAKE LEAVES THE COAST. 97 

dwellings were constructed in' a round form, built of earth, 
and roofed with pieces of wood joined together at a com- 
mon centre, somewhat in form of a spire. Being partly 
under ground, they were close and warm. The fire waa 
placed in the middle, and beds of rushes were spread on 
ihe floor. 

Before sailing, Drake made an excursion into the interior. 
Immense herds of deer were seen, large and fat ; and the 
country seemed one immense warren of a species of cony 
of the size of a Barbary rat, " their heads and faces like 
rabbits in England ; their paws like a mole, their tails like 
a rat. Under their chin on each side was a pouch, into 
which they gathered meat to feed their young, or serve 
tlvemselves another time." The natives ate the flesh of 
those animals, and greatly prized their skins, of which the 
state-robes worn by the king' at his interview with Drake 
were made.* 

The admiral named this fair and fertile country New Al- 
bion, and erected a monument of his discovery, to which 
was nailed a brass plate bearing the name, effigy, and arms 
of her majesty, and asserting her territorial rights, and the 
date of possession being taken, 

Drake had spent thirty-six days at this place, — a long but 
necessary sojourn ; but the repairs of the ship being com- 
pleted, on the 23d July he bore away from Port Drake,t the 
kind-hearted natives deeply bewailing the departure of their 
new friends. The regret, good-will, and respect were in- 
deed mutual. The Indians entreated the English to re- 
member them, and as a farewell offering or homage secretly 
provided what is called a sacrifice. While the ship remained 
in sight they kept fires burning on the heights. It is de- 
lightful at this time to hear of Europeans leaving grateful 

* Captain Beechey informs us, that the fields in the vicinity of San 
Francisoo are burrowed by a small rat resembling the mus arvalis, by 
a mountain-rat of the cricetus kind, and by another little animal resem- 
bling a squirrel, which is named ardillo, and is said to be most excellent 
eating. The species above alluded to by Drake has by some been sup- 
posed synonymous with the tucan of Fernandez, and the Canada pouched 
rat, or mus bursarius of Shaw. 

t There is some diflferenee of opinion about the locality of Port Drake ; 
English navigators supposing it the Port San Francisco of the Span- 
iards, while the latter think it a port lour leagues farther north. Captain 
Beechey, who in the winter of 1826 lay here for six weeks, gives no 
opinion on the subject. 

I 



98 drake's discoveries. 

remembrances of their visits on any coast, and the pleasure 
is enhanced by being able to claim this honour for our coun- 
trymen. It was from some fancied resemblance to the white 
cliffs of England that Drake bestowed on the coast he had 
surveyed the name of New Albion.* 

Next day a store of seals and birds were caught at some 
small islands which are now supposed to be the Farellones 
of modern charts. • 

Thus far had Drake boldly explored in search of a pas- 
sage homeward, either through an undiscovered strait, or 
around the northern extremity of the continent of America ; 
but now this design, so honourable to his enterprise and 
even to his sagacity, was for the present abandoned ; the 
winds being adverse, and the season too much advanced to 
prosecute farther so perilous an adventure. Leaving the 
scene of his discoveries on the western coast of America, 
which are reckoned to begin immediately to the north of 
Cape Mendocino and to extend to 48° N., Drake, with the 
unanimous consent of his company, having formed the de- 
sign of returning home by India and the Cape of Good 
Hope, sailed westward for sixty-eight days without coming 
in sight of land. On the 13th September he fell in with 
some islands in 8° N. As soon as the Golden Hind ap- - 
peared, the natives came off in canoes, each containing from 
four to fourteen men, bringing cocoanuts, fish, and fruits. 
Their canoes were ingeniously formed and prettily orna- 
mented, hollowed out of a single tree, and so high at the 
stern and prow as to be nearly semicircular. The islanders 
were not yet sufficiently enlightened in mercantile atfairs to 
have learned that honesty is the dealer's best policy. Drake, 
however, instead of imitating the conduct of Magellan, and 
instantly shooting them for thieving, or burning their 
houses, endeavoured to bring them to a sense of propriety 
merely by refusing to traffic with those who were found dis- 
honest. This excited their displeasure, and a general attack 
of stones was commenced. A cannon, not shotted, fired 
over their heads to scare them away had only this effect for 
a short time. The general was at last compelled to adopt 

* After passing Punta de los Re5'^es, Captain Beechey awaited the 
return of day off some white cliffs, which he believed must be those 
which made Sir Francis Drake bestow on this tract of country the name 
©f New Albion. 



ISLANDS OF THIEVES. 99 

more severe measures of retaliation, and we are told in vague 
terms that " smart was necessary as well as terror." The 
natives of those Islands of Thieves, as they were named by 
the English, had the lobes of their ears cut out into a circle, 
which hung down on their cheeks. Their teeth were black 
as jet, from the use of a powder which they constantly em- 
ployed for the purpose of staining them. This powder they 
carried about with them in a hollow cane. Another pecu- 
liarity observed was the length of their nails, which wai 
above an inch. It has been conjectured, with every marj 
of probability, that Drake's Islands of Thieves are the 
islands named De Sequeira, discovered by Diego da Rocha 
as mentioned at p. 44 of this volume, and the Pelew Islands 
of our own times ; if so, the morals of the inhabitants must 
have improved greatly in the long interval which elapsed 
between this first visit of the English and that made by Cap- 
tain Wilson in the Duff. The wind coming fair, on the 3d 
October the Golden Hind stood westward, and on the 16th 
of the month made the Philippines in 7° 5' north of the line. 
They first fell in with four islands having a thick popula- 
tion, or the appearance of it. These they visited, and after- 
ward anchored in Mindanao. Sailing hence on the 22d, 
they kept a southerly course, and passed between two 
islands about six or eight leagues south of Mindanao, sup- 
posed to be Sarangan and Candigar. 

On the 3d November the Moluccas were seen, and they 
steered for Tidore ; but in coasting along Motir a boat came 
oflf, from which Drake learned that the Portuguese, expelled 
from Terrenate, or Ternate, by the king of that island, had 
fixed their head-quarters at Tidore. In this boat was the 
Viceroy of Motir, which island was under the sovereignty 
of the powerful and warlike King of Ternate. As soon as 
the viceroy understood that Drake had no reason either to 
love or trust the Portuguese, he entreated him. to change 
his destination ; and the ship accordingly steered for the 
port of Ternate. 

Previous to coming to an anchor before the town, a cour- 
teous ofter of friendship was made by the general through a 
messenger whom he sent on shore with a velvet cloak as a 
present to the king, and who was instructed to say that the 
English came hither only to trade and to procure refresh- 
ments. The viceroy of Motir had previously disposed the 



100 CHIEFS OF TERNATE. 

king to give Drake a favourable reception. To the gene- 
ral's message a gracious answer was returned. All that the 
territories of the King of Ternate afforded were at the dis- 
posal of the English, and that prince was ready to lay him- 
self and his whole dominions at the feet of so glorious a 
princess as the Queen of England. By some of the voyagers 
this flourish of oriental hyperbole is most literally inter- 
preted. The English envoy was received with great pomp ; 
and as credentials, or safe-conduct, a signet (we are not told 
in what form) was transmitted through him to the captain- 
general. Before the ship came to anchor the king put off 
to pay it a visit of welcome and ceremony. The royal 
equipment consisted of three state barges, or canoes, filled 
with the most distinguished persons of his retinue. They 
wore dresses of white- muslin, — " white lawn, of cloth of 
{ 'alicut." Over their heads was a canopy or awning of per- 
fumed mats, supported on a framework of reeds. Their 
personal attendants, also dressed in white, stood next them ; 
and beyond these were ranks of warriors armed with dirks 
and daggers. These again were encircled by the rowers, 
of which there were eighty to each barge, placed in galle- 
fies raised above the other seats, three on each side. They 
rowed, or rather paddled, in cadence to the clashing of cym- 
bals, and altogether made a gallant show. The king, who 
advanced in the last barge, was saluted with a discharge of 
all the great guns, and the martial music which Drake em- 
ployed on occasions of ceremonial struck up. The canoes 
E)addled round and round the ship, the king appearing de- 
ighted with the music, and gratified by the signs of wealth 
and magnificence exhibited by his visiters. He was him- 
self a tall, stout, graceful man, and celebrated as a conqueror 
and warrior. By policy and force of arms he had not only 
expelled the Portuguese from this island, but subdued many 
others, so that seventy islands now ow^ned his sway. He 
professed the faith of Mohammed, which was now become 
the religion of all his dominions. It is worthy of remark, 
that in the ceremonies and external observances of royalty 
the native princes of these Indian islands might have vied 
with the most polished courts of Europe. Elizabeth, whose 
board was daily spread with lowly bends and reverences, 
was not more punctilious in ceremonial and etiquette 
than the sovereign of Ternate. His cqurtiers and attend- 
ants approached the royal presence with the most profound 



COURT OF THE KING OF TERNATE. 101 

respect, no one speaking to the king save in a kneeling pos- 
ture. As soon as the ship came to an anchor the king took 
leave, promising another visit on the following day. 

That same evening a present of fowls, rice, sugar, cloves, 
and /no-o was received, and "a sort of fruit," says the Fa- 
mous Voyage, " they call sago, which is a meal made out 
of the tops of trees, melting in the mouth like sugar, but 
eating like sour curd ; but yet when made into cakes will 
keep so as to be very fit for eating at the end of ten years." 
It is pleasant to come thus upon the first simple notice of 
those productions of other climes which have so long con- 
tributed to the comfort, variety, or luxury of European com- 
munities. 

Instead of coming on board next day the king sent his 
brother to bear his excuses, and to remain as a hostage for 
the safe return of the captain-general, who was invited to 
land. The invitation was not accepted, the English having 
some doubts of the good faith of the fair-promising sove- 
reign of Ternate. But some of the gentlemen went on 
shore ; their first acquaintance, the Viceroy of Motir, re- 
maining as a hostage, as well as the king's brother. On 
landing, they were received v^ith the pomp which had been 
intended to grace the entrance of Drake into the capital ; 
another brother of the king and a party of the nobles con- 
ducted them to the palace, v/hich stood near the dismantled 
fort of the expelled Portuguese. There, they found an 
assembly of at least a thousand persons, sixty of them being 
courtiers or privy-counsellors, " very grave persons," and 
four Turkish envoys, in robes of scarlet and turbans, who 
were then at the court of Ternate concluding a treaty of 
commerce. The king was guarded by twelve lances. " A 
glorious canopy embroidered with gold was carried over his 
head." His garb was a robe of cloth of gold, hanging loose 
about his person ; his legs were bare, but on his feet he wore 
slippers of Cordovan leather. Around his neck hung a 
weighty chain of gold, and fillets of the same metal were 
wreathed through his hair. On his fingers " were many 
fair jewels." At the right side of his chair of state stood a 
page cooling him with a fan two feet in length and one in 
breadth, embroidered and adorned with sapphires, and fast- 
ened to a staff three feet long, by which it was moved. His 
voice was low, and his aspect benign 
12 



102 CRAB ISLAND. 

Drake did not afterward land ; and the offers made of 
exclusive traffic with the English were, it appears, received 
by him with indifference. 

Having procured a supply of provisions and a considerable 
quantity of cloves, the Golden Hind left the Moluccas on 
the 9th November, and on the 14th anchored at a small 
island near the eastern part of Celebes, which they named 
Crab Island. This place being uninhabited and affording 
abundance of wood, though no water was found, tents were 
erected on shore, and fences formed around them ; and here 
they resolved effectually to repair the ship for her homeward 
voyage. This proved a pleasant sojourn. The island was one 
continued forest of a kind of trees, large, lofty, and straight 
in the stem, nor branching out till near the top ; the leaves 
resembling the broom of England.* About these trees 
flicker innumerable bats " as big as hens." There were 
also multitudes of shining flies no' bigger than the common 
fiy in England, which, skimming up and down in the air, 
between the trees and bushes, made them appear " as if they 
were burning." There were also great numbers of land- 
crabs, described as a sort of crayfish, " which dig holes in 
the earth like conies, and are so large that one of them will 
dine four persons, and very good meat."t 

At a small neighbouring island water was procured, and 
on the 12th December, having lain at Crab Island about a 
month, the Hind sailed for the west, and soon got entangled 
among islets and shoals, which induced them to steer for 

* But for this resemblance of the foliage we should say the descrip- 
tion refers to some species of palm. 

, + The islands of the Indian and eastern seas are still inhabited by 
several species of bat of large dimensions ; but il is by ho means easy 
to ascertain, from the vague and brief allusions of the earlier voyagers, 
the precise species which "they intended to indicate.* The lesser Temat.e 
bat of Pennant, figured by Seba (1 tab. 57, fig. 1 and 2), occurs both in 
the island of Timor and in that from which it derives its specific name. 
It is the pteropus stramineiie of M. Geoffroy (Ann. Mus. torn. 15, p. 95), 
to whom we owe the best part of our knowledge of the cheiropterous 
tribes. Several flying quadrupeds of the genus galeopithecusAike'w'isQ 
inhabit the Moluccas. 

The fireflies of eastern countries belong chiefly to the hemipterous 
order, especially the genus fulgor a, and are remarkable tor the emission 
of a very pure and beautiful light. 

Land-crabs, properly so called, belong to the genus gqcarcinus ; they 
dwell in subterranean excavations during the greater portion of the year, 
and proceed to the sea in immense bands at particular seasons to depos* 
ite their ova. Their habits are nocturnal. 



DANGER OF THE SHIP. 103 

Ihe south, to get free of such dangerous ground. At this 
time occurred the most imminent peril and providential 
escape that attended this remarkable voyage, — an incident 
as much resembling a visible interposition of Divine aid 
vi^here human hope was perished as any to be found among 
the almost miraculous records of preservation contained in 
the relations of maritime adventure. 

After being teased for many days, on the 9th January 
they flattered themselves that the shoals were at last cleared. 
On that same evening, early in the first watch, while the 
Golden Hind with all her sails set was running before a 
fair wind, she came suddenly upon a shelving rock, and 
stuck fast. Violent as was the shock she had sprung no 
leak, and the boats were immediately lowered to sound, and 
ascertain if an anchor could be placed in such a situation as 
would permit the ship to be drawn off into deep water. 
But the rock in which she was as it were jammed shelved so 
abruptly that at the distance of only a few yards no bottom 
could be found. A night of great anxiety was passed ; and 
when the dawn permitted a second search for anchorage- 
ground, it only ended in more confirmed and bitter disap- 
pointment. There seemed no help of man ; yet in the 
midst of their calamity several fortunate, or more properly 
providential, circumstances intervened. No leak had been 
sprung ; and though the ebb-tide left the ship in only six 
feet of water, while, so deeply was she treasure-laden, thir- 
teen were required to float her, a strong and steady gale 
blowing from the side to, which she must have reeled as the 
tide gradually receded supported her in- this dangerous po- 
sition. In this dreadful situation, instead of giving them- 
selves up to despair or apathy, Drake and his company be- 
haved with the manliness, coolness, and resolution which 
have ever in the greatest perils characterized British seamen. 
The crew v^rere summoned to prayers, and, this solemn duty 
fulfilled, a last united effort vvas made for the comm.on safety. 
A quantity of meal, eight of the guns, and three tons of 
cloves were thrown overboard. This partial lightening pro- 
d- iced no visible effect ; the ship stuck as fast as before. 
7 he simple language of the original narrative is so much 
n-ore forcible and touching than any modern paraphrase, that 
we at once adopt it. In a single sentence it displays the 
manly and self-depending character of Drake, and the vene- 



104 MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION. 

ration and implicit confidence with which his crew regarded 
him : — " Of all other days," says one old relation, " on the 
9th January, in the yeere 1579 (1580), we ranne upon a 
rocke, where we stuck fast from eight of the clocke at nighte 
till four of the clocke in the afternoon of next day, being, 
indeed, out of all hope to escape the danger ; but our gene- 
rail, as hee had alwayes shown himself couragious, and of 
a good confidence in the mercie and protection of God, so 
now he continued in the same ; and lest he should seem to 
perish wilfully, both hee and wee did our best endevour to 
save ourselves, which it pleased God so to bless that in the 
ende we cleared ourselves most happily of the danger." It 
was, however, by no effort of their own that they were finally 
extricated, though nothing that skill and courage could sug- 
gest or accomplish was wanting. The wind slackened and 
fell with the tide, and at the lowest of the ebb veered to the 
opposite point, when the vessel suddenly reeled to her side. 
The shock loosened her keel, and at the moment of what 
appeared inevitable destruction she plunged into the deep 
water once more as freely afloat as when first launched into 
the ocean. The thankfulness of the -ship's company may 
be imagined.* This dangrerous shoal or reef is not far from 
the coast of Celebes, in 1° 56' S. 

Their perilous adventure made them afterward very wary ; 
and it was not till some weeks had elapsed that, cautiously 
exploring their way, they finally extricated themselves from 
this entangled coast. 

On the 8th February they fell in with the island of Bara- 
tane, probably the island now called Booton, a pleasant and 
fruitful place. It afforded gold, silver, copper, and sulphur. 
The fruits and other natural productions were ginger, long 
pepper, lemons, cocoas, cucumbers, nutmegs, frigo, sago, 
&c. &c. Ternate excepted, this island afforded better and 

* It has been slirewdly remarked, that these pious seamen never for 
one moment seem to have entertained the idea of throwing any part of 
their immense treasure overboard, which would have materially light- 
ened the s'hip. The account of the escape given in " The Famous Voy- 
age" differs from the above, which is, however, regarded as the most 
authentic relation of this almost mira-culous preservation. It states, that 
after the ship was lightened "the wind (as it were in a moment by the 
i^pecial grace of God) changing from the starboard to the larboard side, 
we hoisted our sails, and tlie happy gale drove our ship off the rocks into 
the sea again, to the no small comfort of all our hearts ; for which we 
gave God su-ch praiso and thanks as so great a benefit required." 



SOCIAL CONDITION OF JAVA. 105 

greater variety of refreshments for the mariner than any land 
at which our navigators had touched since they had left 
England. The inhabitants were worthy of the fertile region 
they inhabited. In form and features they were a hand- 
Bome people ; in disposition and manners, mild and friendly ; 
fair in their dealings, and obliging in their behaviour. The 
men were naked, save a small turban and a piece of cloth 
about their waists ; but the women were clothed from the 
middle to the feet, and had their arms loaded with bracelets 
fashioned of bone, horn, and brass?* The men universally 
wore ornaments in their ears. These islanders received 
the English with kindness and civility, and gladly supplied 
their wants. 

Leaving Baratane with very favourable impressions of 
the country and the people, they made sail for Java, which 
was reached on the 12th of March. Here the navigators 
remained for twelve days in a course of constant festivity. 
The island was at this time governed by five independent 
chiefs or rajahs, who lived in perfect amity, and vied with 
each other in showing hospitality and courtesy to their Eng- 
lish visiters. 

The social condition of the Javans at this comparatively 
early period exhibits a pleasing and attractive picture of 
semi-barbarous life, if a state of society may be thus termed, 
which appears to realize many of our late Utopian schemes 
of visionary perfection. The Javans were of good size ahd 
well-formed, bold, and warlike. Their weapons and armour 
were swords, bucklers, and daggers of their own manufac- 
ture, the blades admirably tempered, the handles highly or- 
namented. The upper part of their bodies was entirely 
naked, but from the waist downwards they wore .a flowing 
garment of silk of some gay and favourite colour. In every 
village there was a house of assembly, or public hall, where 
these social and cheerful people, whom we may call the 
French of the Indian islands, met twice a-day to partake of 
a kind of picnic meal and enjoy the pleasures of conversa- 
tion. To this common festival every one contributed at his 
pleasure or convenience, bringing fruits, boiled rice,* roast 

*The .Tavan cookery of rice, as described by Drake's crew, is worthy 
of a place in English cookery books. An earthen vessel of a conical 
form, open at the widest end, and perforated with holes, was filled with 
rice, and plunged into a larger vessel of boiling water. The rice, swell- 



106 SAFE RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION. 

fowls, and sago. On a table raised three feet the feast was 
spread, and the party gathered round, " every one delight- 
ing in the company of another." While the Hind lay here 
a constant intercourse and interchange of kindnesses and 
civilities were maintained between the sea and shore ; the 
rajahs coming frequently on board either singly or to- 
gether. 

But the delights of Java could not long banish the remem- 
brance of England, to which every wish was nov^r directed. 
Making sail from Java, the first land seen was the Cape of 
Good Hope, which they passed on the 15th June. The 
Spaniards had not more studiously magnified the real dan- 
gers of Magellan's Straits than the Portuguese had exagge- 
rated and misrepresented the storms and perils which sur- 
round the Cape ; and it required the characteristic intre-^ 
pidity and consummate skill of Drake to venture with his 
single bark on this doubtful and almost untried navigation. 
It is, however, probable that he suspected the craft which 
suggested this attempt to hoodwink and delude all other 
maritime nations, that Portugal might long retain a mo- 
nopoly of her important discovery. Certain it is, that the 
ship's company were surprised that close by the Cape — • 
" the most stately thing and goodliest cape seen in the cir- 
cumference of the whole earth" — no violent tempests or aw- 
ful perils were encountered ; and they accordingly shrewdly 
concluded the report of the "Portugals most false." 

Deeming it unsafe or inexpedient to halt here, Drake 
stood for land of which he had better knowledge, and on the 
22d July arrived at Sierra Leone. Water was obtained, 
and the refreshment of fruits and oysters, of which, we are 
told, " one kind was found on trees spawning and increas- 
ing wonderfully, — the oyster suffering no bud to grow." It 
was imagined the 26th of September, 1580, when, without 
touching at other land, Captain Drake, after a voyage of two 
years and ten months, came to anchor, whence he had set 
out, in the harbour of JPlymouth. The day of the, week was 
Monday, though by the reckoning kept by the voyagers 
Sunday, and the 27th the true time ; the same loss of a day 
having befallen them which had puzzled Magellan's crew, 

ins, soon stopped the holes, and the mass was steamed till it became 
firm and hard like bread, when it was eaten wUh spices, fruit, sugar^ 
meat, oil, &;c. &c. 



DRAKE'S GREAT CELEBRITY. 107 

— a mystery now clear to the most juvenile student in geo- 
graphy.* 

The safe return of the expedition, the glory attending so 
magnificent an enterprise, and the immense mass of wealth 
brought home made the arrival of Drake be hailed through- 
out England as an event of great national importance. Such 
in fact it was, as his success gave an incalculable impetus 
to the rapidly-increasing maritime spirit of the country. 

The bravery, the exploits, and the wonderful adventures 
of Drake immediately became the theme of every tongue. 
Courtiers patronised and poets praised him ; and, to com- 
plete his celebrity, envious detractors were not wanting, 
who, with some plausibility, represented that England and 
Spain, though cherishing the bitterest national antipathy, 
being still nominally at peace, his enterprises were at best 
but those of a splendid corsair ; and that his spoliation of 
the subjects of Spain must provoke reprisal on such mer- 
chants as had goods and dealings in that country. It was 
urged that, of all countries, a trading nation like England 
should carefully avoid offending in a kind which laid her 
open to speedy punishment, and must frustrate the advance- 
ment of her maritime prosperity. On the other hand, the 
friends and admirers of the navigator contended, that he of 
all men, who had been so deep a sufferer from their perfidy, 
was entitled to take the punishment of the Spaniards into 
his own hands ; and that his gallant enterprise, while it 
inspired foreign nations with a high opinion of the mari- 
time talent and power of England, would at home excite 
the noblest emulation, — an effect which it already had, the 
island, from the one extreme to the other, being now in- 
flamed with the ardour that his splendid achievements had 
kindled, and which was soon to be manifested in a series of 
actions emanating directly from his expedition. 

In the mean while Drake lost no time in repairing to 

* Tlie Biographia Britannica, and one of the old relations^ states that 
Drake touched at Terceira in his l.omeward voyagj, and arrived at 
Plymoutli on the 23d November. This seems incorrect. It is almost 
superfluous to notice these discrepancies; but as in this volume con- 
siderable pains have been bestowed to ensure accuracy by collating the 
different relations, it is proper to notice, once for all, that where it may 
differ in dates or trifling matters of fact from other narrations, the dis- 
agreement arises from the adoption of what are considered the best au 
thenticated statements 



108 THE queen's visit TO SIR F. DRAKE. 

court. Elizabeth, who with all) her faults never favoured 
the despicable, was more purely the fountain of all favour 
and honour than any preceding sovereign, and her personal 
regard more the object of ambition. Drake was graciously 
received, but not yet openly countenanced. The queen 
permitted the first fervours of both his admirers and ene- 
mies to abate before she openly declared her own senti- 
ments. A show of coldness was also a necessary part of 
the subtle game she was still playing with Spain. 

The complaints of the Spaniards were violent and loud ; 
and the queen deemed it prudent to place the wealth brought 
home under sequestration till their claims should be inves- 
tigated ; or, more correctly, till the complainers could be 
either baffled or wearied out in solicitation. It was the 
policy of Elizabeth to protract the long-impending hostili- 
ties between the countries, and among other means the 
plundered gold was employed. As a foretaste, or a bribe 
to purchase peace a little longer, several small sums were 
paid to the agent for Spanish claims ; but, when tired of 
the game of diplomacy, which the queen relished as much 
for the enjoyment of the play as the value of the stakes, 
she suddenly took the resolution of openly countenancing 
the daring navigator, whose boldness, discretion, and bril- 
liant success were so happily adapted to gain her favour. 

On the 4th of April, 1581, the queen went in state to 
dine on board the Golden Hind, now lying at Deptford ; 
and Drake, who naturally loved show and magnificence, 
spared no pains in furnishing a banquet worthy of his royal 
guest. After dinner the queen conferred upon him the 
honour of knighthood, — enhancing the value of the distinc- 
tion by politely saying, " that his actions did him more honour 
than the title which she conferred." The queen also gave 
orders that his ship should be preserved as a monument of 
the glory of the nation and of the illustrious commander. 
This was done, and when it would no longer hold together 
a chair was made of one of the planks, and presented as a 
relic to the University of Oxford.* On the day of the 

* The particulars of this " stately visit" would unduly swell the nar- 
rative. On this day Elizabeth, who, like King William IV., loved to be 
surrounded by her subjects, was attended in her i)rogress to Deptlcrd 
by an immense concourse of people, who crowded, so thickly upon the 
temporary bridge, or planks placed between the river's bank and the 



drake's expedition vindicated. 100 

queen's visit, in compliment to her majesty's scholarship, a 
variety of Latin verses, composed by the scholars of Win- 
chester College, were nailed to the mainmast, in which the 
praises of the ship and of the queen were alternated and 
intermingled. The Golden Hind afterward became the 
theme of the muse of Cowley. One translation of a Latin 
epigram on the ship we select from a multitude of verses, 
as its quaintness is redeemed by its elegance : — 

The stars above will make thee known, 
If man were silent here ; 
The Sun himself cannot forget 
His fellow-traveller. 

The reputation of Sir Francis Drake had now obtained 
that court-stamp which, without increasing value, gives 
currency. Though EUzabeth had so far temporized as to 
sequestrate for a time the wealth brought home, the Spanish 
complaints of the English sailing in the South Sea she 
scornfully dismissed, — denying " that, by the Bishop of 
Rome's donation or any other right, the Spaniards were 
entitled to debar the subjects of other princes from these 
new countries ; the gift of what is another's constituting 
no valid right ; — that touching here and there, and naming 
a river or cape, could not give a proprietary title, nor hinder 
other nations from trading or colonizing in those parts 
where the Spaniards had not plajited settlements." One 
objectionable part of Drake's conduct thus obtained royal 
vindication ; and as the war, long impending, was no longer 
avoidable, his alleged depredations were forgotten even by 
his envious detractors, and his fame became as universal 
as it was high. Envy itself had ever been forced to ac- 
knowledge, not merely his maritime skill and genius for 
command, but the humanity and benevolence that marked 
his dealings with the Indians, and the generosity with 
which he uniformly treated his captives of that nation of 
all others the most hateful to Englishmen, and in some 
respects the most injurious to himself. 

But the achievements of the Nelson of the reign of Eliza- 
beth demand a new chapter, the life of Drake from this point 
being intimately blended with the public history of England, 

sbip, that it gave way, and some hundreds fell into the water. This was 
an unlucky adventure, but no one was either killed or hurt, which the 
ready-witted princess attributed solely to the good fortune of Drake, 
K 



110 COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Expeditions to the West Indies. 

Commencement of Hostilities witli Spain— Drake captures St. Jago— 
Cruelty of the Portuguese— Storming of St. Domingo and Carthagena 
— l"he Fever of the West Indies— Sir Walter Raleigh's Colony- 
Brake destroys the Spanish Shipping— Observations on his Character 
—The Spanish Armada— Capture of the Galleon of Don Pedro Valdez 
—Expedition to restore Don Antonio— Expedition with Havirkins to 
the Spanish Settlements in the West Indies— Attempt against Porto 
Rico— Failure of Baskerville's Expedition across the Isthmus- 
Death of Sir Francis Drake— Estimate of his Character and Public 
Services. 

Hostilities with Spain, so long protracted by the policy 
of Elizabeth, were now about to commence in good earnest ; 
and Drake may be said to have struck the first blow. War 
was not formally declared when he projected an expedition 
in concert with Sir Philip Sydney, — the two most popular 
men of their time being to command, the one the land and 
other the sea force. On the part of Sir Philip the design was 
abandoned at the express command of the queen, who re- 
quired his services in the Netherlands, where he had already 
been usefully employed for the public cause, and where, in 
the following year, he met his early and glorious death. 
Sir Francis Drake's armament consisted of twenty-five 
sail, of which two vessels were queen's ships. His force 
amounted to 2300 seamen and soldiers. Under his com- 
mand were several officers of experience and high reputa- 
tion. His lieutenant-general was Christopher Carlile, his 
vice-admiral the celebrated navigator Martin Frobisher ; and 
Captain Francis Knollys, and other officers of celebrity, 
were among his coadjutors in an enterprise, the object 
of which was to unite public advantage with private 
emolument. 

The fleet stood at once for J^e coast of Spain, where 
Drake meditated a bold stroke at the enemy's naval force 
in passing to his ulterior objects in the West Indies ; and 



CAPTURE or ST. JAGO. Ill 

this without very rigid preliminary inquiry whether war 
had been declared or not. His demand to know why an 
embargo had been laid upon the goods of certain English 
merchants was' answered in terms so pacific, that finding it 
impossible to fasten a quarrel upon the Spaniards which 
would justify reprisal, the fleet cruised from St. Sebastian's 
to Vigo, capturing some small tenders. They next stood 
for the Cape de Verd Islands, where, landing 1000 men in 
the night, Drake, with a handful of them, surprised and 
took vSt. Jago, which the inhabitants hastily abandoned. 
This was on the 17th November, 1585, and the day of 
Elizabeth's accession, which was celebrated by the guns of 
the castle firing a salute, to which those of the fleet replied. 
The conquest had proved easy, but the booty was in pro- 
portion inconsiderable, consisting chiefly of trifling mer- 
chandise, and the tawdry, worthless wares employed in 
trading with the Indians of the islands and on the shores 
of the continent of America. If there had been any treas- 
ure in the place, it was either carried away or eflfectually 
concealed ; and the threats of the invaders to burn and 
slay, unless the terms of ransom which they dictated were 
complied with, produced no effect. The islanders seemed 
determined either to weary or to starve out the invaders ; 
and their easy conquest soon became no desirable posses- 
sion. On the 24th, a village twelve miles in the interior, 
named St. Domingo, was taken ; but the islanders still 
kept aloof; and posting placards, denouncing the former 
cowardice and cruelty of the Portuguese and their present 
pusillanimity, the English prepared to depart. Then, for 
the first time, a force appeared hanging off and on, as if to 
annoy their retreat. Burning the town, and every place 
within reach, the English re-embarked in good order, and 
stood for the West Indies. 

In palliation of what may appear useless severity, it must 
be stated that, besides refusing the terms of ransom offered 
them, the Portuguese had perpetrated the most wanton 
cruelty on an English boy who had straggled, and whose 
corpse was found by his countrymen, torn, disfigured, and 
dismembered, — as , if he had rather fallen into the hands of 
the most ferocious tribe of cannibals than among a Chris- 
tian people. The islanders had also, five years before, mur- 
dered, under the protection of a truce, the crew of a Bristol 



112 STORMING OF ST. DOMINGOo 

vessel commanded by Captain William Hawkins. The 
vengeance which may afterward be taken by their coun- 
trymen forms a strong protection to a single ship's company 
or to a weak crew on a distant coast ; and if there may not 
be strict equity, there is at least commendable policy in a 
commander showing that neither former kindness nor yet 
treachery to the people of his nation is either unknown or 
forgotten. 

While the fleet lay here, that malignant fever which 
proves the scourge of soldiers ahd seamen in these climes 
broke out with great inveteracy, and carried off between 
two and three hundred of the men. 

They next touched at St. Christopher's and Dominica, 
where they had a friendly interview with some of the abo- 
rigines, at which the toys and wares of St. Jago were libe- 
rally exchanged for tobacco and cassada. 

Attracted by the fame of " the brave city" of St. Do- 
mingo, one of the oldest and wealthiest of the Spanish set- 
tlements in the West Indies, it was determined to carry it. 
Drake's common plan of attack was simple and uniform : a 
party was landed in the night to make the assault from the 
land side, while the ships co-operated from the water. On 
New-year's day the English landed ten miles to the west- 
ward of the town, and, forming into two divisions, made 
the attack at opposite gates ; and to save themselves from 
the guns of the castle, rushed forward, sword in hand, pell- 
mell, till according to agreement they met in the market- 
place in the centre of the town, and changed the fight of 
the Spaniards into precipitate retreat. Here they hastily 
barricaded themselves, resolved to maintain their post, and 
confidently expecting an attack. But the Spaniards gave 
them little trouble. Struck with panic, they next night 
abandoned the castle to the invaders, and escaped by boats 
to the other side of the haven. The following day the Eng- 
lish strengthened their position, planting the ordnance 
which they took within their trenches, — and, thus secured, 
held the place for a month, collecting what plunder was to 
be found, while they negotiated with the Spaniards for the 
ransom of the city. The terms were such that the inhabit- 
ants were unable to redeem the town ; and burning and 
negotiation went on simultaneously and leisurely. Two 
hundred seamen, and as many soldiers forming their guard, 



DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY. 



113 



were employed daily in the work of destruction ; but tne 
buildings being lofty piles, substantially constructed of stone 
their demohtion proved a fatiguing duty to the men ; and 
after much labour, spent with little los^ to the enemy and no 
profit to themselves, the ransom of 25,000 ducats was 
finally accepted for the safety of what remained of the city. 
The plunder obtained was very inconsiderable for the size 
and imagined riches of the place. 

A little episode in the history of this enterprise against 
St. Domingo deserves notice, as it places the energetic 
character of Drake in a striking point of view. A negro 
boy, sent with a flag of truce to the leading people while 
the negotiation for ransom was pending, was met by some 
Spanish officers, who furiously struck at him, and after- 
ward pierced him through with a horsemanJs spear. Dread- 
fully wounded as he was, the poor boy tried to crawl back 
to his master, and while relating the cruel treatment he had 
received, he fell down and expired in the presence of Drake. 
The insult offered to his flag of truce, and the barbarous 
treatment of the lad, roused the captain-general to the high- 
est pitch of indignation. He commanded the provost-mar- 
shal, with a guard, to carry two unfortunate monks, who had 
been made prisoners, to the place where his flag was violated, 
there to be hanged. Another prisoner shared the same fate ; 
and a message was sent to the Spaniards, announcing that 
until the persons guilty of this breach of the law of nations 
were given up, two Spanish prisoners should, suffer daily. 
Next day the offenders were sent in ; and, to make their me- 
rited punishment the more ignominious and exemplary, their 
own countrymen were forced to become their executioners. 

Among other instances of Spanish boasting and vain- 
glory recorded by the historians of the voyage, is an ac- 
count of an escutcheon of the arms of Spain, found in the 
town-hall of the city, on the lower part of which was a 
globe, over which was represented a horse rampant, or prob- 
ably volant, with the legend Non svfficit orhis. This vaunt 
gave great offence at this particular time to the national 
pride of the English, who told the negotiators, that should 
their queen be pleased resolutely to prosecute the war, 
instead of the whole globe not satisfying his ambition, 
Philip would find some difficulty in keeping that portion of 
it which he already possessed 
K2 



1 14 CAPTURE OF CARTHAGF3A, 

Theii* next attempt was directed against Carthagena, 
which was bravely defended and gallantly carried, Carlile 
making the attack on the land side, while Drake's fleet pre- 
sented itself before the town. The governor, Alonzo Bravo. 
was made prisoner ; and after holding the place for six weeks, 
and destroying many houses, the trifling ransom of 11,000 
ducats was accepted for the preservation of the rest of the 
town. The Spaniards might not have got off on such easy 
terms, but that the fearful pest, the deadly bilious fever, 
which has so often proved fatal to English expeditions in the 
very same locality, now raged in the fleet, and compelled the 
commanders to revise their plans and lower their demands. 
About 700 naen perished in this expedition of the calentura^ 
alone, as the disease, since described by Smollett and Glo- 
ver and othersy. was then named. Those who struggled 
through this frightful malady, if we may fully credit the 
early accounts, were even more to be pitied than those that 
sunk under the disease. Though they survived, it was with 
\oss of strength, not soon if ever recovered ; and many suf- 
fered the decay of memory and impaired judgment ; so that, 
"when a man began to talk foolishly and incoherently, it be- 
came a common phrase in the fleet to say that such a one 
dad been seized with the calenture. 
The design of attempting Nombre de Dies and Panama, 
there to strike the stroke for treasure," of which they had 
nitherto been disappointed, was abandoned in a council of 
war ; and sailing by the coast of Florida, they burnt St. 

* The calenture, ague, bilious, and yellow fever, — for by all these 
names is the Carthagena fever known, — has never been more truly and 
vividly described than in Roderick Random, and in Smollett's account of 
the " Expedition against Carthagena," where the sufferings of Drake's 
expedition were acted over again. In Raynal's History of the Indies 
we find the same causes assumed for this fatal distemper to which it 
was attributed by Drake's company, the pestiferous night-dews of a 
climate where even the long-continued rains of the wet season never 
cooled the air, and where the night is as hot as the day. The men on 
watch were found peculiarly liable to its attacks. Though there is some 
difference of opinion about the causes of the disease, the symptoms 
were the santie in 1535 as in our own day. " The disease," says Ray- 
nal, " manifests itself by vomitings, accompanied by so violent a de- 
lirium, that the patient must be confined to prevent him from tearing him- 
self to pieces. He often expires in the midst of these agitations, which 
seldom last above three or four days." He adds that the fever of 
Carthagena, like the smail-pox and some other diseases, is never taken 
but once^ — a point, however, like many others, on which dpctors differ 
in opinion. 



DRAKE DESTROYS THE SPANISH SHIPPING, 1^5 

Helena and St. Augustin, two forts and small settlements of 
the Spaniards, and brought off from Virginia Mr. Lane, 
the governor, with the remains of an unfortunate colony 
sent out under the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh in the 
former year.* 

It was in July, 1586, before the armament returned, bring- 
ing 209 brass and 40 iron cannon, and about 60,000Z. in 
prize-money, of which 20,000L was divided among the men, 
and the remainder allotted to the adventurers. Though 
the private gains resulting from the expedition were trifling, 
the dismantling of so many fortresses at the beginning of a 
war was a service to the country of no inconsiderable value. 
It was but the first of many which our navigator performed 
211 its progress. 

The next exploit of Drake was wholly for the public ser- 
vice. The rumour of that formidable armament fitted out 
fly Spain to invade England, and first in fear, though after- 
ward in jest, named the Invincible Armada, had spread 
general alarm. In a noble spirit of patriotism, the mer- 
chants of London, at their own expense, fitted out twenty- 
six vessels of different sizes, to be placed under the com- 
mand of Drake, to annoy the enemy, and, if possible, frns- 
trate or delay the boasted design of invading England. To 
this armament the queen added four ships of the royal fleet ; 
and with this considerable force Drake bore for Lisbon, and 
afterward for the harbour of Cadiz, where he had the good 
fortune to burn and destroy 10,000 tons burthen of ship- 
'^ing, either destined for the threatened invasion or subset 
vient to this purpose. Here he remained for a short time 
annoying the enemy's galleys, which he destroyed piece- 
meal, though his great enterprise had been accomplished in 
one day and two nights. Drake, having thus happily ac- 
complished his public duty, was impelled by gratitude and 
gallantry to attempt a stroke which might enable him to re- 
ward the spirited individuals who had enabled him so essen- 
tially to serve their common country. Having private in-s 

* The colony carried home at this time by Drake, with the tobacco 
which they brought along with them, first, according to Camden, intro- 
duced the use of that commodity into Britain, where it now yields about 
3,000,000L of yearly revenue. In Virginia they had learned the uses of 
*he herb. It however still remains undecided whether tobacco was intro- 
duced into England by Raleigh or Drake. To Drake the introduction .0 . 
potatoes is universally ascribed. 



116 DRAKE APPOINTED VICE-ADMIRAL. 

formation that the St. Phihp, a Portuguese carrack from the 
East Indies, was about this time expected at Terceira, he 
sailed for the Azores. Before he fell in with the prize the 
fleet became short of provisions ; but by dint of promises 
and threats, Drake prevailed with his company to bear up 
against privations, and soon had the felicity of bringing in 
triumph to England the richest prize that had ever yet been 
made, and the first-fruits of the numerous captures to which 
his success soon led the way both among the Dutch and 
English. The name of the prize was hailed as an omen of 
future victory to England. Drake is blamed for discovering 
undue elation at the close of this triumphant expedition. ' 
He is said to have become boastful of his own deeds, though 
the only ground of charge is gayly describing his bold and 
gallant service as " burning the Spanish king's beard." 
But surely this may well be forgiven to the hero who, de- 
laying the threatened Armada for a year, laid the founda- 
tion of its final discomfiture. ^ Nor were Drake's eminent 
services to his country Hmited to warlike operations. In. 
the short interval of leisure which followed this expedition 
he brought water into the town of Plymouth, of which it 
was in great want, from springs eight miles distant, and by 
a course measuring more than twenty miles. 

In the following year his distinguished services received 
the reward to which they were fully entitled, in his ap- 
pointment of vice-admiral under Lord Charles Howard of 
Effingham, high-admiral of England. 

* So keenly were the deeds of Drake resented by the court of Spain 
even before this great stroke at the maritime power and strength of that 
country, that, when terror was presumed to be struck into the very heart 
of the nation, and the queen quailing with dismay, expecting the formi 
dable armament every day to put to sea, tlie Spanish ambassador had thP 
temerity to propound terms for her acceptance, wrapped up, in the pe 
dantic fashion of the time, in Latin verses, which are thus translated :- 
" These to you are our commands : 
Send no help to the Netherlands. 
Of the treasure took by Dark 
Restitution you must make ; 
And those abbeys build anew 
Which your father overthrew." 
To this insolent demand the lion-hearted Protestant princess replied in 
the same vein :— 

" Worthy king, know this your will 
At Lattar Lammas we'll fulfil-" 



THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA. 117 

Drake had hitherto been accustomed to give orders, not 
to obey them ; and his vivacity under command had nearly 
been productive of serious consequences. Positive infor- 
mation had been received of the saiHng of the Invincible 
Armada, but it was likewise known that the fleet had 
been dispersed in a violent tempest ; and, believing that 
the attempt would be abandoned at this time, orders were 
despatched to the lord-high-admiral to send four of his 
best ships back to Chatham, as the frugal government of 
Elizabeth grudged the expense of keeping them afloat an 
hour longer than they were positively required. This 
order had hardly been given, when Howard was made 
aware by the information of Thomas Fleming, the captain 
of an English pinnace,* of the close approach of the fleet ; 
and it sooiji after passed Plymouth, where he lay taking in 
supplies after cruising on the Spanish coasts looking out 
for it. It was four in the afternoon of the 19th July, 1588, 
when the intelHgence of Fleming put the lord-high-admiral 
upon the alert ; and by next day at noon his ships were 
manned, warped out, and in fighting trim. At the same 
hour the Spanish fleet came in sight; and on the 21st, 
Howard, with his greatly inferior force, ventured the attack 
which, by the blessing of Heaven on the valour and skill 
of the English, was continued from day to day in various 
quarters, till the proud Armada was swept from the Eng- 
lish channel. On the night of the 21st, Drake, who had 
been appointed to carry the lantern, forgot this duty, and 
gave chase to several hulks which were separated from 
the fleet, and thus so far misled the high-admiral, that, 
following the Spanish lantern under the idea that it was 
carried by his own vice-admiral, when day dawned he 
found himself in the midst of the enemy's ships. The 
high-admiral instantly extricated himself; and Drake am- 
ply atoned for this oversight by the distinguished service 
performed by his squadron in harassing, capturing, and 
destroying the Spaniards. On the day following this err- 
ing night he performed a memorable action. Among the 

* The honour of giving this? importanf intelligence is claimed for 
Scotland, to which country Fleming, who only followed the example 
of his betters in plundering on the high seas, is said to have belonged. 
At the instance of Howard the queen granted Mm a pardon, and also a 
pension for the notable service he had performed. 



118 EXPEDITION WITH SIR JOHN NORRIS. 

fleet was a large galleon commanded by Don Pedro de 
Valdez, a man of illustrious family and high official rank, 
with whom nearly fifty noblemen and gentlemen sailed. 
His ship had been crippled and' separated from the fleet, 
and Howard, in hot pursuit, had passed it, imagining that 
it was abandoned. There was on board a crew of 4-50 
persons ; who, when summoned to surrender in the for- 
midable name of Drake, attempted no resistance. Kissing 
the hand of his conqueror, Don Pedro said, they had re- 
solved to die in battle, had they not experienced the good 
fortune of falling into the hands of one courteous and 
gentle, and generous to the vanquished foe ; one whom it 
was doubtful whether his enemies had greater cause to 
admire and love for his valiant and prosperous exploits, or 
dread for his great wisdom and good fortune ; whom Mars, 
the god of war, and Neptune, the god of the sea, alike 
favoured. To merit this high eulogium, Drake behaved 
with the utmost kindness and politeness to his involuntary 
guests, who were sent prisoners to England. Two years 
afterward he received 3500/. for their ransom. In the ship 
55,000 ducats were found, and liberally divided among the 
crew. The broken running fight between the fleets was 
renewed from day to day, and from hour to hour, as the 
superior sailing of the light English vessels promised ad- 
vantage, till the Spaniards were driven on that line of 
conduct which ended in the complete destruction of their 
mighty armament. In the fight of the 29th, which was 
desperate on both sides, Drake's ship was pierced with 
forty shot, two of which passed through his cabin. Of 
134 ships which left the coast of Spain only 53 returned. 

In the following year Drake, as admiral, commanded 
the fleet sent to restore Don Antonio of Portugal, while 
Sir John Norris led the land-forces. Differences arose 
between the commanders about the best mode of prosecut- 
ing their joint enterprise. The failure of Norris's scheme 
gives probability to the assertion that the plan of operations 
suggested by Drake would, if followed, have been success- 
ful. It is at least certain that the expedition miscarried, 
which had never happened to any single-handed under- 
taking in which Drake engaged. Don Antonio, taken out 
to be made a king by the prowess of the English, returned 
as he went. Before the queen and council Drake fully 



EXPEDITION WITH SIR JOHN HAWKINS. 119 

justified his own share of the affair, and the confidence 
placed in his ability and skill remained undiminished. This 
was the first check that the fortunes of Drake had ever re- 
ceived, — and it would have been happy for him, it has 
bpen said, had he now withdrawn his stake. The prin- 
cipal and fatal error of his succeeding expedition was once 
more undertaking a joint command. 

The war in 1595, though it languished for want of fuel 
to feed the flame, was not yet giving any prospect of draw- 
ing to a conclusion; and, in conjunction with Sir John 
Hawkins, Drake offered his services in an expedition to 
the West Indies, to be undertaken on a scale of magnifi- 
cence which must at once crush the Spanish power in 
that quarter, where the enemy had already been so often 
and effectually galled by the same commanders. Elizabeth 
and her ministers received the proposal with every mark of 
satisfaction. The fleet consisted of six of the queen's 
ships and twenty-one private vessels, with a crew, in sea- 
men and soldiers, amounting to 2500 men and boys. 
Thej'^ sailed from Plymouth in August, having been de- 
tained for some tim.e by the reports of another armada 
being about to invade England, This rumour was art- 
fully spread to delay the fleet, of which one object was 
known to be the destruction of Nombre de Dios and the 
plunder of Panama. They had hardly put to sea when the 
demon of discord, which ever attends conjunct expeditions, 
appeared in their councils. Sir John Hawkins wished at 
once to accomplish an object recommended by the queen ; 
but time was lost in an attempt, suggested by Sir Thomas 
Baskerville, to invade or capture the Canaries, and again 
at Dominica. All these delays were improved by the 
enemy in the colonies, in preparing for the reception of 
the English. A few days before sailing, information had 
been sent to the fleet of a Spanish galleon richly laden, 
that had been disabled and separated from those ships 
which annually brought plate and treasure from the Indies 
to Spain ; and the capture of this vessel was recommended 
to the commanders by the English government as an 
especial service. The galleon now lay at Porto Rico ; but 
before this time five frigates had been sent by the Spaniards 
to convey it away in safety. On the , 30th October, Sir 
John Hawkins made sail from the coast of Dominica 



120 ATTEMPT AGAINST PORTO RICO. 

where the ships had been careened, and had taken in 
water ; and on the same evening he sustained the misfor- 
tune of having the Francis, one of his vessels, captured 
by the enemy's frigates. This stroke, which appeared 
fatal to the enterprise, by informing the Spaniardg of his 
approach and putting them on their guard, gave him inex- 
pressible chagrin. He immediately fell sick, and on the 
12th November, when the fleet had got before Porto Rico, 
died of combined disease and grief. He was succeeded 
by Sir Thomas Baskerville, who took command in the 
Garland, the queen's ship in which Hawkins had sailed. 
The English fleet, meditating an instant attack, now lay 
within reach of the guns of Porto Rico ; and while the 
officers, on the night of Sir John Hawkins's death, were at 
supper together, a shot penetrated to the great cabin, drove 
jhe stool on which Drake sat from under him, killed Sir 
Nicolas Clifford, and mortally wounded Mr. Brute Browne 
and some other officers. An attack, this night decided 
upon, was attempted next day, with the desperate valour 
which has ever characterized the maritime assaults of the 
English. But the enemy were fully prepared ; the treas- 
ure had been carefully conveyed away, and also the 
women and children. The fortifications had been repaired 
and placed in good order ; and though the hot impetuous 
attack of the English inflicted great suflTering on the Span- 
iards, to themselves there remained but a barren victory. 
After lying two or three days before the place, it was 
judged expedient to bear off" and abandon this enterprise. 
They stood for the main, where Rio de la Hacha, La Ran- 
cheria, and some othe>r places were taken, and, negotia- 
tions for their ransom failing, burnt to the ground. The 
same course was followed with other petty places ; but 
Drake began seriously to find, that while giving the enemy 
this trifling annoyance, he was gradually reducing his own 
force without gaining any substantial advantage. His 
health was injured by this series of disappointments, and 
from the first misunderstanding with HaAvkins his spirits 
had been aflfected. On the morning of the assault on Porto 
Rico, in taking leave of Mr. Brute Browne, then breathing 
his last, he exclaimed, " Brute, Brute, how heartily could 
I lament thy fate, but that I dare not suffer my spirits to 
sink now." 



DEATH OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 121 

The Spanish towns, from which every thing of value 
was taken away, were rather abandoned to the occupation 
than taken by the arms of the English. In this way Santa 
Martha and Nombre de Dios fell into their hands with 
scarce a show of resistance. They were both burnt. On 
the 29th December, two days after the capture of Nombre 
de Dios, Sir Thomas Baskerville, with 750 soldiers, at- 
tempted to make his way to Panama through the fatiguing 
and dangerous passes of the Isthmus of Darien, the Span- 
iards annoying his whole line of march by a desultory fire 
of musketry from the woods. At certain passes fortifica- 
tions had been thrown up to impede their progress ; and 
coming upon these unexpectedly, they were exposed to a 
sudden fire, by which many feH. About midway the design 
was abandoned, and the party turned back, still exposed in 
the retreat to the fire of the Spaniards from the woods. 
Destitute of provisions, and suffering great privation and 
fatigue, they returned to the ships depressed and disheart- 
ened. This last and most grievous of the train of disap- 
pointments that had followed Drake throughout an expe- 
dition from which the nation expected so much, andAvherein 
he had embarked much of his fortune and risked his high 
reputation, threw the admiral into a lingering fever, accom- 
panied by a flux, under which he languished for three 
weeks. He expired while the fleet lay off Porto Bello. 
^The death of Admiral Drake took place on the 28th Janu- 
ary, 1596, and in his fifty-first year. His remains were 
placed in a leaden coffin, and committed to the deep with 
all the pomp attending naval obsequies. Unsuccessful as 
his latest enterprises had been, his death was universally 
lamented by the nation. The tenderness of pity was now 
mingled with admiration of the genius and valour of this 
great man, "whose memory will survive as long as the 
world lasts, which he first surrounded." 

Drake is described as low in stature, but extremely well 
made ; with a broad chest and a round compact head. His 
complexion was fair and sanguine ; his countenance open 
and cheerful, with large and lively eyes ; his beard full, and 
his hair of a light brown. The portrait prefixed to this 
volume gives the idea of a man of that prompt and decided 
character which Sir Francis Drake discovered in every 
action of his life. From the lowest point and rudiments 
L 



122 HIS CHARACTER AND PUBLIC SERVICES. 

of his art, Drake was a thorough-bred seaman, able in his 
own person to discharge every duty of a ship, even to at- 
tending the sick and dressing the wounded. In repairing 
and watering his ships, as readily as in what are esteemed 
higher offices, he at all times bore an active part ; and to 
his zealous superintendence and co-operation in these sub- 
ordinate duties, much of the facility and celerity of his 
movements, and of his consequent success, is to be attrib- 
uted. The sciences connected with navigation, as they 
were then known, he thoroughly understood, and particu- 
larly that of astronomy. ^Whatever he attempted on his 
own judgment, without being controlled by the opinions of 
others, he accomplished with success. He has been charged 
with ambition ; but it is well remarked, that no man's am- - 
bition ever took a happier direction for his country. His 
example did more to advance the maritime power and repu- 
tation of England than that of all the navigators who pre- 
ceded him. He indicated or led the way to several new 
sources of trade, and opened the career of commercial 
prosperity which his countrymen are still pursuing.* 
Among the many natural gifts of this lowly-born seaman 
was a ready and graceful eloquence, lie was fond of 
amassing wealth, but in its distribution was liberal and 
bountiful^ Among other deeds of enlightened benevolence 
was his establishment, in conjunction with Sir John Haw- 
kins, of the CHEST at Chatham for the relief of aged or sic^ 
seamen, by the honourable means of their own early provi- 
dence. Drake sat in two parliaments, — in the first for a 
Cornish borough, and in the next for the town of Plymouth 
in the 35th of Elizabeth. Though often described as a 
bachelor, it is ascertained that he married the daughter and 
sole heiress of Sir George Sydenham, of Coombe Syden- 
ham in Devonshire, who survived him. He left no children, 
but bequeathed to his nephew Francis Drake, afterward 
created a ba^ronet by James the First, his landed estate, 

* Camden styles Sir Francis Drake the author of our East India trade, 
as the journals, sea-charts, draughts, &c. which he found in the St. 
PhiUp, afforded thai information to government, and to the Enghsh mer- 
chants, which led to the immediate opening of the trade, and to the 
establishment of that mighty thing called "The Company." The first 
voyage undertaken by the English to the East Indies was conducted by 
Captain Lancaster and CaptainRaymond in 1591, the same year in which 
Cavendish made his second voyage to the South Sea. 







US^ER SCU5P. 



TIE(Q)'ML£}.m (SA'^UKTBE^SI 



H-iJlPES-S . PAM . I.IB 



POLICY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. 123 

which was considerable. Three quarters of the globe had 
contributed to its acquisition ; yet there is certainly no 
ancient family estate in the south of England of the title- 
deeds of which the proprietors have less cause to be 
ashamed, than that still held by the heijs of the son of the 
honest mariner of Tavistock. 



CAVENDISH. 

i \ 

CHAPTER V. 

Voyage round the World. 

Policy of Queen Elizabeth— Public Spirit of the English Nobility- 
Ancestry of Cavendish — His Voyage to Virginia — Equipment of his 
Squadron — Discovery of Port Desire— Colony of Pedro Sarmiento— 
Misery of New Settlers— Sarmiento made Prisoner — Natives of the 
Straits — Indian Tributaries of Santa Maria— Escape of Tome Her- 
nandez — A Watering Party cut otf— Capture of Spanish Ships — Use 
of Torture by Cavendish — Paita stormed — Cacique of Puna — Skir- 
mish with the Spaniards— March into the Woods — Progress of the 
Squadron— Capture of the Santa Anna. 

The reign of Elizabeth is by nothing more hondurably 
distinguished than the manliness and dignity which charac- 
terized the pursuits of her courtiers, and, through their ex- 
ample, those of the entire body of the English gentry. A 
period illustrious in the national annals owes much of its 
glory and felicity to this single cause. To the queen her- 
self belongs the praise of having, during her long reign, 
studiously kept alive the flame of public spirit ; and of hav- 
ing striven, by her influence and public acts, to inspire the 
flower of the youth of her kingdom with that ardent thirst 
of glory which in so many ways redounded to the national 
advantage. Distinguished personal merit, whether dis' 
played in the field or at the council-board, was the certain 
road to the favour of Elizabeth ; and though her favourites 



124 RISE OF ENGLISH NAVAL POWER. 

might have possessed very different degrees of m6ral worth, 
all of them were celebrated for ability or patriotism.* It 
was thus, in the age of Elizabeth, nothing unusual for men 
of the highest rank to devote their private fortunes and per- 
sonal services to the advancement of the national interests, 
either by undertaking or promoting voyages of discovery, 
establishing colonies, opening up new branches of trade, 
or protecting the state against the aggressions of the Span- 
iards. At that period it was considered as nothing wonder- 
ful that the Earls of Essex and Cumberland, and such men 
as Raleigh, Dudley, Grenville, Gilbert, and many other 
persons of family and condition, should, in pursuit of 
honourable distinction, court fatigue and hardship, from 
which their degenerate successors, in the reigns of the 
Stuarts, would have shrunk in dismay. 

* The attention paid by Elizabeth to the rising marine and the com- 
merce of her kingdom has often been the subject of extravagant pane- 
gyric. The subjoined discourse of Purchas is a curiosity, were it only 
for its high-flown style. " The English Deborah" is thus addressed : 
" Thou wast indeed the mother of English sea-greatness ; and didst first 
(by thy generals) not salute alone, but awe and terrify the remotest East 
and West; stretching thy long and strong arms to India, to China, to 
America, to the Peruvian seas, the Californian coast, and New Albion's 
sceptres. Thou madest the northern Muscovite admire thy greatness. 
Thou gavest name to the north-west straits ; and the southern negroes, 
and islands of the south unknown continent, which knew not humanity, 
were compelled to know thee. Thou embracedst the whole earthly 
globe in thy maritime arms ; thou freedest England from Easterlingsf 
and Lombards' borrowed legs ; and taughtst her, not only to stand and 
go without help, but to become help to out friends, and with her own 
sea-forces to stand against, yea, to stand upon and stamp under her 
feet the proudest of her foes. Thou wast a mother to thy neighbours, 
Scots, French, Dutch; a mirror to the remotest nations. Great Cumber- 
land's twelve voyages before recited are thine, and the fiery vigour ot 
his martial spirit was kindled at thy bright lamp, and quickened by the 
great spirit of Elizabeth. Drake, Cavendish, .John and Richard Haw 
kins, Raleigh, Dudley, Shirley, Preston, Grenville, Lancaster, Wood, 
Raymond, Levison, Monson, Winter, Frobisher, Davis, and other star- 
worthies of England's sphere, whose planet-courses we have before 
related, all acknowledge Eliza's orb to be their first and highest mover." 
For the credit of Master Purchas's independence it must be noticed that 
'-'glorious Elizabeth" was by this time beyond the reach of flattery. 

t By Easterlings are meant the people of theHanse Towns; and we 
presume that by " Easterlings and Lombards' borrowed legs," this quaint 
writer signifies that the carrying trade of England, which 'Aad hitherto 
been enjoyed by the shipping of the Italians and the people of the United 
Provinces, was now, by the policy of Elizabeth, secured to the English 



ANCESTRY OF CAVENDISH. 125 

Of this class was Thomas Cavendish, the second Eng- 
lishman that circumnavigated the globe. He was of an 
ancient and honourable family of Suffolk, the ancestor of 
which had come into England with the Conqueror. The 
residence of Cavendish, or Candish, as the name was then 
written, was at Trimley St. Martin ; and his estates lay 
near Ipswich, at that period a place of considerable trade. 
From this vicinage to a maritime town he is said to have 
imbibed an early inclination to the sea. 

His father died while Cavendish was still a minor ; and 
coming early into the possession of his patrimony, he is 
reported to have squandered it " in gallantry, and following 
the court," and to have been compelled to embrace the 
nobler pursuits to v/hich his subsequent years were devoted 
to redeem his shattered fortunes. Truth may lie between 
the contradictory statements of the motives which deter- 
mined this gentleman to follow the career of Sir Francis 
Drake, in seeking fortune and reputation on the western 
shores of America and in the South Sea. 

Though the relations of his voyages are ample and com- 
plete, the truth is, that very little is known of the personal 
history of Cavendish. In the year 15S5, he accompanied 
Sir Richard Grenville's expedition to Virginia, in a vessel 
equipped at his own expense.* This voyage, undertaken 
to plant the unfortunate colony which was brought home 
by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 (see p. 115), was both profit- 
less and difficult; but it enabled Cavendish to obtain 
nautical experience, and in its progress he had seen the 
Spanish West India settlements, and conversed with some 
of those who had accompanied Drake into the South Sea. 
The youthful ambition of Cavendish was thus roused to 
emulate the glory of so eminent a navigator in this rich and 
newly-opened field of enterprise. 

Grenville's fleet, which sailed for Virginia in April, re- 
turned in October, and from the wrecks of his fbrtune, and 
the remains of his credit, Mr. Cavendish, in six months 
afterward, had equipped a small squadron for his pro- 
jected voyage. While the carpenters were at work he 

* Some accounts say this ^was the Tiger ; but this could not have 
been, as the Tiger was the admiral's ship, from which Cavendish was 
separated in the Bay of Biscay, and which he did not rejoin till the fleet 
haid reached the West Indies. 

L2 



126 HIS FIRST VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA. 

procured every draught, map, chart, and history of former 
navigations that might be useful to him ; and having, 
through the patronage or recommendation of Lord Huns- 
don, procured the queen's commission, he sailed fromPly- 
mouth on the 21st July, 1586. His light squadron con- 
sisted of the Desire, a vessel of 120 tons burthen, in which 
he sailed himself as admiral and commander of the expedi- 
tion ; the Content of 60 tons ; and the Hugh Gallant, a 
light bark of 40 tons. A crew of 123 soldiers, seamen, and 
officers manned this little fleet, which was provided with 
every requisite for a long voyage, in latitudes with which 
the navigation of Drake had now made the English some- 
what familiar. 

If so much interest is still awakened by the maritime 
undertakings of contemporary navigators, who set out in a 
familiar track under the guidance of former experience and 
observation, with the advantage of instruments nearly per- 
fect, and with all appliances and means to boot, how much 
more must attach to the relation of the adventures of one 
who, like Cavendish, could have no hope or dependence 
fave in his own capacity and courage ! 

The squadron first touched at Sierra Leone, where the 
conduct of the young commander was not wholly blameless. 
On a Sunday part of the ships' company went on shore, 
and spent the day in dancing and amusing themselves with 
the friendly negroes, their secret object being to gain intel- 
ligence of a Portuguese vessel that lay in the harbour, and 
which Cavendish intended to capture. This was found 
impracticable, and next day the English landed to the 
number of seventy, and made an attack on the town, of 
which they burnt 150 houses, almost the whole number, and 
plundered, right and left. It was but little that they found. 
The negroes fled at their landing, but on their retreat shot 
poisoned arrows at the marauders from the shelter of the 
woods. This African village is described as neolly built, 
enclosed by mud walls, and kept, both houses and streets, 
in the cleanest manner. The yards were paled in, and the 
town was altogether trim and comfortable, exhibiting signs 
of civilization, of which at this point the slave-trade subse- 
quently destroyed every trace. A few days afterward a 
party of the sailors landed to wash linen ; and repeating 
the visit next day, a number of negroes lying in ambush, 



DISCOVERY OF PORT DESIRE. 127 

m the woods nearly surprised and cut them off. A soldier 
died of a shot from a poisoned arrow ; though the case as 
described appears more like mortification of the parts than 
the effects of poison. Several of the men were wounded, 
but none mortally save the soldier. On the 3d of September 
a party went some miles up the river in a boat, caught a 
store of fish, and gathered a supply of lemons for the fleet, 
which sailed on the 6th. No reason is assigned for the 
unprovoked devastation on this coast, save " the bad deal- 
ing of negroes with all Christians." 

On the 16th December the squadron made the coast of 
America, in 47§° S. The land, stretching west, was seen 
at the distance of six leagues, and next day the fleet an- 
chored in a harbour in 48° S. This harbour they named 
Port Desire, in honour of the admiral's ship. Seals were 
found here of enormous size, which in the forepart of their 
body resembled lions ;* their young was found delicate 
food, equal, to the taste of the seamen, to lamb or mutton. 
Sea-birds were also found in great plenty, of which the 
description given seems to apply to, the penguin. In this 
excellent harbour the ships' bottoms were careened. On 
the 24th December, Christmas-eve, a man and boy belong- 
ing to the Content went on shore to wash their linen, 
when they were suddenly surrounded and shot at by fifty 
or more Indians. Cavendish pursued with a small party, but 
the natives escaped. " They are as wild as ever was a buck," 
says an old voyager, " as they seldom or ever see any 
Christians." Their footprints were measured, and found 
to be eighteen inches in length. f The squadron left Port 
Desire on the 28tli, and halted at an island three leagues 
off, to cure and store the penguins that had been taken. 
On the 30th, standing to sea, they passed a rock about fifty 

* In the voyage of the Dutch navigators Le Maire and Schouten, who 
anchored in Port Desire about thirty years after Cavendish, these ani- 
mals are described as sixteen feet long ; they could only be killed by 
shooting them in the belly or the head, their skins not being penetrable 
in other parts. 

t The crew of Le Maire and Schouten, when their fleet lay here, 
opened some of the graves,— or more properly removed the heaps which 
in elevated points, on the summits of hills and rocks, were laid above 
the dead, according to the practice of burial among these^tribes, and 
found human skeletons, as they allege, often and eleven feet in length. 
The sculls covered the Dutchmen's^heads as helmets, so much larger 
were they in size than the sculls of Europeans. 



128 Magellan's straits — Spanish colony. 

miles from the harbour they had left, which resembled the 
Eddystone Rock near Plymouth. About the first day of 
the year they saw several capes, to which no names are 
given, and on the 6 th, without further preparation, entered 
Magellan's Straits, which the Spaniards had lately atteraptea 
to fortify and colonize. At twilight the squadron anchored 
near the first Angostura ; and in the night lights were ob- 
served on the north side of the strait, which were supposed 
to be signals. Recognition was made by lights from the 
ships, an4 a boat was sent oflf in the morning, to which 
three men on the shore made signs by waving a handker- 
chief. These were part of the survivors of a wretched 
Spanish colony. 

The history of the misfortunes and suflferings of the first 
settlers in different parts of America would make one of 
Ihe most melancholy volumes that ever was penned^ nor 
could any portion of it prove more heart-rending than that 
Ivhich should record the miseries of this colony, left by 
Pedro Sarmiento in the Straits of Magellan. It may be 
recollected, tha,t on the appearance of Drake on the coast 
of Peru, this commander was despatched by the viceroy to 
intercept the daring interloper on his return by the straits. 
Sarmiento afterward bestowed much pains in examining 
the western shores of Patagonia and the coast of Chili, 
and the many inlets, labyrinths, and intricate ^channels of 
the islands and broken lands of Tierra del Fuego, which, 
as he conjectured, must communicate with the Straits of 
Magellan by one or more passages. After a long time had 
thus been consumed fruitlessly he entered the straits, and 
Dassed through eastward in about a month, minutely ex- 
imining the coast on both sides. When this discoverer 
'cached Spain, his exaggerated statements, the desire of 
checking the progress of the English in this quarter, and 
an apprehension that they were preparing to seize this 
master-key to the South Seas (tlie passage by the Cape of 
Good Hope being still monopolized by the Portuguese, and 
that by Cape Horn not yet discovered), induced Philip to 
listen to the proposals of Sarmiento, an enthusiast in the 
cause, and to colonize and fortify this important outlet of 
his American dominions. A powerful armament of 23 
ships, with 3500 men, destined for different points of South 
America, was in the first place to establish the new colony. 



ILL FORTUNE OF SARMIENTO. 129 

This expedition, undertaken on so magnificent a scale, was 
from first to last unfortunate. While still on the coast of 
Spain, from which the fleet sailed on the 25th September, 
1581, five of the ships were wrecked in a violent gale, and 
800 men perished. The whole fleet put back, and sailed 
a second time in December. Misfortunes followed in a 
thick train. Sickness thinned their numbers ; and at Rio 
Janeiro, where they wintered, many of the intended settlers 
deserted. Some of the ships became leaky, the bottoms of 
others were attacked by worms, and a large vessel, contain- 
ing most of the stores of the colonists of the straits, sprung 
a leak at sea, and before assistance could be obtained went 
down, 330 men and twenty of the settlers perishing in her. 
Three times was Sarmiento driven back to the Brazils be- 
fore he was able to accomplish his purpose ; and it was 
Febraary, 1584, before he at last arrived in the strait and 
was able to land the colonists. Nor did his ill fortune 
close here. His consort, Riviera, either wilfully abandoned 
him, or was forced from his anchorage by stress of weather. 
He stood for Spain, carrying away the greater part of the 
remaining stores which were to sustain the people through 
the rigour of the winter of the south, which was now com- 
mencing, and until they were able to raise crops and ob- 
tain provisions. The foundation of a town was laid, which 
was named San Felipe ; and bastions and wooden edifices 
were constructed. Another city, named Nombre de Jesus, 
was commenced. These stations were in favourable points 
of the straits, and at the distance of about seventy miles 
from each other. In the mean while the southern winter 
set in with uncommon severity. In April snow fell inces- 
santly for fifteen days. Sarmiento, who, after establishing 
the colonists at these two points, intended to go to Chili 
for provisions, was driven from his anchors in a gale, and 
forced to seek his own safety in the Brazils, leaving the 
settlers without a ship. He has been accused of intention- 
ally abandoning this helpless colony, which he was the in- 
strument of establishing, and of which he was also the gov- 
nor. The accusation appears unjust, as he made many 
subsequent eftbrts for its relief, which his ill fortune ren- 
dered abortive. The governors at the different settlements 
at length refused to afford further assistance to a project 
which had lost the royal favour ; and in returning to Spain 



130 MISERY OF THE SETTLERS. 

to solicit aid, Sarmiento was captured by three ships 
belonging to Sir Walter Raleigh, — luckily, in all proba- 
bility, for himself, as the indignation of King Philip at the 
failure of so expensive and powerful an expedition, and at 
the misrepresentations of this otKcer, might not have been 
easily appeased.* Of the wretched colonists, about whom 
neither old Spain nor her American settlements gave them- 
selves any further trouble, many died of famine and cold 
during the first winter. The milder weather of the spring 
and summer allowed a short respite of misery, and afforded 
the hope of the return of Sarmiento, or some ship with 
provisions and clothing. But the year wore away, and no 
vessel appeared, and the colonists at San Felipe, in their 
despair, contrived to build two boats, in which all that re- 
mained alive, fifty men and five women, embarked, with 
the hope of getting out of the straits. One of their boats 
was wrecked, and the design was abandoned, as there were 
no seamen among their number, nor any one capable of 
conducting the perilous navigation. Their crops all failed ; 
the natives molested them ; a:nd out of four hundred men 
and thirty women landed by«Sarmiento, only fifteen meli 
and three women survived when Mr. Cavendish entered 
the sitraits. In San Felipe many lay dead in their houses 
and in their clothes, the survivors not having strength to 
bury them ; and along the shores, where these miserable 
beings wandered, trying to pick up a few shellfish or herts, 
they often came upon the body of a deceased companion 
who had perished of famine, or of the diseases caused by 
extreme want. 

It was, as has been said, part of these forlorn wanderers 
whom Cavendish saw on the morning after he entered the 
straits. A passage to Peru was offered them, but they at 
first hesitated to trust the English heretics ; though after- 
ward, when willing to accept the generous offer, their reso- 
lution came too late ; and before they could be mustered, a 
fair wind offering, Cavendish sailed on, having tantalized 
these wretched Spaniards with hopes which the safety of 



* It is said that Queen Elizabeth ordered the captive governor of the 
straits to be presented to her, that she conversed vvith him in Latin, and 
gave him his freedona and 1000 crowns to convey him into Spain. How- 
ever this may be, it was some years before he found his way back. 



THE FLEET ENTERS THE SOUTH SEA. 131 

his own crew in this precarious navigation, and the success 
of his expedition, did not permit him to fulfil. The oiFer 
had Ukewise been made in ignorance of their numbers. If 
Cavendish be blamed for abandoning these wretched vic- 
tims to their fate, what^hall be said of the nation which, 
having sent out this colony, left it to perish of famine and 
cold ! One Spaniard was brought off, named Tome Her- 
nandez, who became the historian of the miserable colony 
of the straits. 

The squadron of Cavendish, after passing both the An- 
gosturas, as the Spaniards named the narrowest points of 
the straits, anchored first at the island of Santa Magdalena, 
where in two hours they killed and salted two pipes full of 
penguins ; and afterward at San Felipe, the now desolate 
station of the Spanish colonists, some of whom the Eng- 
.lish found still lying in their houses, " where they had died 
like dogs." Here they brought on board six pieces of ord- 
nance which the settlers had buried. This place Cavendish 
named Port Famine ; it was found to be in 53° S. On the 
22d a few natives were seen; but the Spaniard, Hernan- 
dez, cautioned the English against all intercourse, repre- 
senting them as a treacherous people, — a character which 
European knives and swords seen in their possession, 
converted into darts, confirmed ; and when they again ap- 
proached, Cavendish carried his precautions to so extrava- 
gant a length as to order a discharge of muskets, by which 
many of them were killed, and the rest took to flight, cer- 
tainly not corrected of their bad propensities by this harsh 
discipline. They were represented as cannibals, who had 
preyed upon the Spanish colonists, and this excused all 
wrong. 

For the next three weeks the fleet lay in a sheltered 
port, unable to enter the South ea from a continuance of 
strong westerly wind ; but on the 24th February, after a 
favourable though a tedious passage, they finally emerged 
from the straits. To the south was a fair high cape with 
a point of low land adjoining it, — on the other side several 
islands with much broken ground around them, at about 
six leagues off from the mainland. On the 1st of March 
the stormy Spirit of the Straits, which no fleet ever wholly 
escaped, overtook Cavendish ; and the Hugh Gallant was 
separated from the larger vessels, one of which was found 



132 MOCHA SANTA MARIA^ — BAY OF QUINTERO. 

so leaky that the crew were completely exhausted in work- 
ing the pumps for three days and nights without ceasing. 
On the 15th the Hugh Gallant rejoined her consorts at the 
Isle of Mocha, on the coast of Chili : they were here taken, 
for Spaniards, and landing on the main experienced but a 
rough reception from the Indians, who bore no good-will to 
the natives of Spain. But a similar mistake sometimes 
operated to their advantage ; and next day, when the cap- 
tain with a party of seventy men landed at the island of 
Santa Maria, they were received as Spaniards, with all 
kindness and humility, by the principal people of the 
island ; and a store of wheat, barley, and potatoes, ready 
prepared, and presumed by the voyagers to be a tribute to 
the conquerors, was unscrupulously appropriated. To this 
the islanders added presents of' hogs, dried dogfish, fowls, 
and maize, and received in return an entertainment on 
board the captain's ship. These Indians are represented 
as being in such subjection, that not one of them durst eat 
a hen or hog of his own rearing, all being sacred to their 
taskmasters, who had, however, made the whcle of the 
islanders Christians. When they came to understand that 
their guests were not Spaniards, it was believed that they 
attempted to invite them to an assault upon their enslavers ; 
but for want of an interpreter their meaning was imper- 
fectly comprehended. The squadron, thus refreshed at the 
expense of the Spaniards, sailed on the 18th, but overshot 
Valparaiso, at which place they intended to halt. On the 
30th they anchored in the Bay of Quintero, seven leagues 
to the north of Valparaiso. A herdsman asleep on a hill- 
side awaking, and perceiving three strange ships in the 
bay, caught a horse grazing beside him, and fled to spread 
the alarm. Cavendish, unable to prevent this untoward 
movement, landed with a party of thirty men, and Hernan- 
dez, the Spaniard whom he had brought from the straits, 
and who made strong protestations of fidelity. Three 
armed horsemen appeared, as if come to reconnoitre. "With 
these Hernandez conferred, and reported that they agreed 
to furnish as much provision as the English required. A 
second time the interpreter was despatched to a conference ; 
but on this occasion, forgetting all his vows of fidelity to 
his benefactors, he leaped up behind one of his country- 
men, and they set oif at a round gallop, leaving Cavendish 



MORRO MORENO. 183 

to execrate Spanish bad faith. The Enghsh filled some 
of their watercasks, and attempted in vain to obtain a shot 
at the wild cattle, vt'hich were seen grazing in great herds. 
Next day a party of from fifty to sixty marched into the 
interior in the hope of discovering some Spanish settle- 
ment. They did not see one human being, native nor 
European, though they travelled till arrested by the moun- 
tains. The country was fruitful and well watered with 
rivulets, and abounded in herds of cattle and horses, and 
with hares, rabbits, and many kinds of wild-fowl. They 
also saw num.erous wild dogs. The party did not sleep on 
shore. The boats were sent next day for water, which 
was found a quarter of a mile from the beach. While the 
seamen were employed in filling the casks, they were 
suddenly surprised by a party of 200 horsem.en, who came 
pouncing down upon them from the heights, and cut off 
twelve of the party, some of whom were killed, and the 
rest made prisoners. The remainder were rescued by the 
soldiers, who ran from the rocks to support their unsus- 
pecting comrades, and killed twenty- four of the Spaniards. 
Notwithstanding this serious misadventure. Cavendish, 
keeping strict watch and ward, remained here till the 
watering was completed. Of the nine prisoners snatched 
off in this affray, it was afterward learned that six were 
executed at Santiago as pirates, though they sailed with 
the queen's commission, and though the nation to which 
they belonged was at open war with Spain. 

The discipline which the Spaniards had taught the na- 
tives was again found of use to our navigators, who, after 
leaving Quintero, came on the 15th to Morro Moreno, or 
the Brown Mountain, where the Indians, on their landing, 
met them with loads of wood and water, which they had 
carried on their backs down the rocks. These slaves of 
the Spaniards were found to be a very degraded race, 
almost at the lowest point in the scale of civilization. 
Tlieir dwellings consisted of a few sticks placed across 
two stakes stuck in the ground, on which a few boughs 
were laid. Skins spread on the floor gave a higher idea 
of comfort. Their food consisted of raw putrid fish ; yet 
their fishing-canoes were constructed with considerable in- 
genuit}'. They were made of skins " like bladders. '^ Each 
boat consisted of two of these skins, which v/ere inflated 
M 



134 CAPTURE OF SPANISH VESSFJS 

by means of quills, and sewed or laced together with gut, 
so as to be perfectly water-tight. In these they fished, 
paying large tribute of their spoils to their conquerors. 
When any one died, his bows and arrows, canoes, and all 
his personal property, were buried along with him, as the 
English verified by opening a grave. 

On the 23d a vessel, with a cargo of Spanish Avine, was 
captured near Arica, and also a small bark, the crew of 
which escaped in their boat. This vessel was permanently 
added to the squadron, and named the George. Another 
large ship, captured in the road of Arica, proved but a 
worthless prize, the cargo having been previously taken 
away, and the ship deserted by the crew. A design of 
landing and storming the town was abandoned, as, before 
the squadron could be mustered, the Spaniards were ap- 
prized of their danger, and prepared to stand on the defen- 
sive. A third vessel was taken close by the town ; and 
the English squadron and the batteries even exchanged a 
few harmless shots ; after which Cavendish, in hopes of 
relieving some of the English prisoners made at Quintero, 
sent in a flag of truce inviting the Spaniards to redeem 
their vessels ; but proposals of this nature were, by order 
of the viceroy at Lima, in all cases rejected. 

On the 25th, while the squadron still rode before the 
town, a vessel from the southward was perceived coming 
into the port. Cavendish sent out his pinnace to seize this 
bark, while the townspeople endeavoured from the shore 
to make the crew sensible of their danger. They under- 
stood the signals, and rowed in among the rocks, while a 
party of horsemen advanced from the town to protect the 
crew and passengers. Among these were several monks, 
who had a very narrow escape. The deserted vessel, when 
searched, afforded nothing of value ; and, burning their 
prizes, early on the 26th they bore away northward from 
Arica. Next day a small vessel, despatched from Santiago 
with intelligence to the viceroy that an English squadron,— 
probably Drake himself, — was upon the coast, was cap- 
tured. Great severity was used to make the crcAV reveal 
the nature of their despatches, which were thrown over- 
board while the English gave chase. They had solemnly 
sworn not to tell their errand ; but their fideUty was barely 
proof against the torture to which Cavendish thought it 



PAITA STORMED. 135 

necessary to subject them to ej.toxt their secret. An old 
Fleming, whom he threatened to hang, and actually caused 
to be hoisted up, stood the test, and chose rather to die 
than to perjure himself by betraying his trust.* At last 
one of the Spaniards confessed ; and, burning the vessel, 
Cavendish carried the crew along with him, as the safest 
way to prevent tale-telling. In this vessel was found a 
Greek pilot well acquainted with the coast of Chili. 

On the 3d May they landed at a small Spanish town, 
where they obtained a supply of bread, wine, figs, and fowls. 
This cruise was continued for a fortnight, and several 
prizes were-made, from which needful supplies were ob- 
tained ; but none that afforded the species of wealth which 
the captors valued. On the 20th they landed at Paita, to 
the amount of seventy men, took the town, drove out the 
inhabitants, and continued the pursuit till they came t6 
the place whither the townspeople had conveyed theii 
most valuable goods. Here they found 25 pounds of silver, 
with other costly commodities. Cavendish, however, ex- 
pecting an attack, had the prudence not to allow his men 
to encumber themselves with much spoil on their return to 
the ships. The town, which was regularly built and very 
clean, consisted of 200 houses. It was burnt to the ground, 
with goods to the value of five or six thousand pounds. A 
ship in the harbour w^as also burnt, and the fleet held a 
course northward, and anchored at the island of Puna in a 
good harbour. A Spanish sloop of 250 tons burthen, which 
they found here, was sunk. They landed forthwith at the 
dwelling of the cacique, who was found living in a style of 
elegance and even magnificence rarely seen among the 
native chiefs. His house stood near the town, by the 
water's edge, and contained many handsome apartments, 

* This is sufficiently revolting. The mode of torture employed by 
Cavendish was somewhat similar to what in Scotland was called the 
thumbikins. He caused the prisoners " to be tormented with their 
thumbs in a winch, and to continue them at several times with extreme 
pain." In palliation of the cruelty employed by Cavendish, we must 
recollect that torture was still sometimes judicially employed in England. 
In the Letters illustrative of Englj|h Hi'storj^ lately published by Mr. 
Ellis, there is a copy of a warrant of the maiden queen, which was 
found in the handwriting of Lord Burleigh, ordering two servants of the 
Duke of Norfolk to be threatened wuth the rack, and failing threats, if 
itiey still persisted infidelity to their master, ** to find the taste thereof 1" 



136 CACIQUE OF PUNA. 

with verandas commanding line prospects seaward and 
landward. The chief had married a beautiful Spanish 
woman, who was regarded as the queen of the island. 
She never set her foot upon the ground, holding it " too 
low a thing for her," but was carried abroad on men's 
shoulders in a sort of palanquin, with a canopy to shelter 
her from the smi and wind, and attended by native ladies 
and the principal men of the island. The cacique and his 
lady fled on the first approach of the English, carrying with 
them 100,000 crowns, which, from the information of a 
captive scout, were ascertained to have been in their pos- 
session. Induced by the information of the Indian cap- 
tive, Cavendish landed on the main with an armed party, 
intending to surprise the fugitives ; but they once more 
fled, leaving the meat roasting at their fires, and their 
treasures could not be discovered. In a small neighbouring 
island the cacique had previously for safety deposited his 
most valuable furniture and goods, consisting of hangings 
of Cordovan leather, richly painted and gilded, with the 
tackling of ships, nails, spikes, &c., of which the English 
took a large suppl}^ At Puna sail-cloth of sea-grass was 
manufactured for the use of the ships in the South Sea. 
The island was about the size of the Isle of Wight, and 
contained several towns, — the principal one, near which 
was the cacique's palace, consisted of 200 houses, with a 
large church. This the English burnt down, carrying 
away the bells. 

The Indian chief of Puna had been baptized previous to 
his marriage, and the Indians were all obliged to attend 
mass. Adjoining the dwelling of the cacique was a fine 
garden laid out in the European style, with a fountain. In 
it were cotton-plants, fig-trees, pomegranates, and many 
varieties of herbs and fruits. An orchard, with lemons, 
oranges, &c., ornamented the other side of this pleasant 
dwelling, the under part of which consisted of a large hall, 
in which goods of all kinds were promiscuously stored. 
Cattle and poultry v/ere seen in great abundance, with 
' pigeons, turkeys, and ducks of unusual size. Though the 
general both from personal o1|»ervation and report was aware 
that a force was to be sent against him from Guayaquil, he 
hauled up his ship to have her bottom cleaned, keeping vigi- 
lant watch in the chief's house, where the English had 
established their head-quarters. 



SKIRMISH WITH THE SPANIARDS. 137 

The ship was again afloat, and the squadron about to sail, 
when, by one of those mischances which prove the danger 
of indulging for a single moment in false security, the Eng- 
lish suffered a severe loss. On the 2d of June, before 
weighing anchor, a party were permitted to straggle about 
the town to amuse themselves and forage for provisions. 
Thus scattered, they were suddenly assailed in detached 
groups by a hundred armed Spaniards ; and of the twenty 
thus dispersed seven were killed, three made prisoners, and 
two drowned, while eight escaped. Forty-six Spaniards 
and Indians fell in this skirmish. Cavendish immediately 
landed with an armed band, drove the Spanish soldiers from 
the town, and burnt it completely down, together with four 
ships then building. He also destroyed tlie gardens and 
orchards. Persisting in maintaining his ground, Cavendish*, 
next day laid up the other ship to be careened, and did not 
sail till the .5th, when they went to Rio Dolce, where they 
watered. Here they sunk the Hugh Gallant, all the hands 
being now required for the other vessels. They also sent 
on shore their Indian prisoners, and, without touching at 
any other land, held a northerly course for nearly a month. 
On the 9th July they captured a new ship of 120 tons, 
which, first taking away her ropes and sails, they imme- 
diately burnt. In this vessel was a Frenchman, Michael 
Sancius, who gave information of the Manilla ship then ex- 
pected from the Philippines. This was a prize worth look- 
ing after ; and they were so far fortunate as to intercept a 
small bark sent to give her warning. On the 27th, by day- 
break, they entered the harbour of Guatulco, and burnt the 
town, the church, and custom-house, in which was found a 
quantity of die-stuffs and cocoas. Some trifling adventures 
marked the following day, in which they by mistake over- 
sailed Acapulco. Landing at Puerto de Navidad, they burnt 
two ships, each of 200 tons, then on the stocks, and made 
prisoner a mulatto who carried letters of advice of their pro- 
gress along the coast of New Gallicia. In this manner they 
proceeded northward, often landing small detachments, and 
spreading alarm along the shores. On the 8th they came 
into the bay of Chaccalla (supposed Compostella), described 
as being 18 leagues from Cape de los Corrientes, and to a 
harbour presumed to be that known in modern ge ography 
a& San Bias. Next morning an officer with forty men, and 
M2 



138 PROGRESS OF THE SQUADRON. 

Michael Sancius as their conductor, marched two leagues 
into the interior, by "a most villanous and desert path 
through the woods and wilderness," and came to a place 
where they found three Spanish families, a carpenter of the 
same nation, a Portuguese, and a few Indians. Their or- 
dinary mode of proceeding on such occasions is told in few 
words : — " We bound them all, and made them to come to 
the seaside with us." The general, however, set the women 
free ; and on their bringing to the ships a supply of pine- 
apples, lemons, and oranges, allowed their husbands to de- 
part, as there was nothing to be obtained from them. The 
carpenter and the Portuguese were kept, and next day the 
jfleet sailed. On the 12th September they reached the isle 
of St. Andrew, where they laid in a store of wood and of 
dried and salted wild-fowl. Seals were also found and igua- 
nas, — a species " of serpent with four feet and a long sharp 
tail, strange to them who have not seen thein," but which, 
nevertheless, made very palatable food to the keen appetites 
of seamen. In their frequent exigencies these hardy voy- 
agers never scrupled to act upon the opinion of the old 
Symeron chief in the Isthmus of Darien. When Drake, 
with the natural disgust of an Englishman, showed some 
tokens of aversion to otter's flesh, the Indian is reported to 
have thus addressed him : — " Are you a warrior, and in 
want, and yet doubt if that be food which hath blood in it ?" 

On the 24th September they put into the Bay of Mazat- 
lan, and at an island a league to the northward careened 
the ships, new-built the pinnace, and by digging deep in the 
sands found water, of which they stood much in need ; as 
without this seasonable supply they must have been com- 
pelled to turn back, and thus might have missed their prey. 

The squadron sailed from this island on the night of the 
9th October for the Gape of St. Lucas, which was m.ade on 
the 14th. Here they lay in wait for the anticipated prize, 
cruising about the headland, without going far off, till the 
4th of November, on the morning of which day the trum- 
peter from the masthead descried a sail bearing in for the 
cape. Chase was immediately given, and continued for 
some hours, when the English came up with the Santa 
Anna, gave her a broadside, poured in a volley of musketry, 
and prepared to board. The attempt was bravely repelled 
by the Spaniards, who courageously repulsed the assailants 



CAPTURE OF THE SANTA ANNA. 139 

with the loss of two men killed and five wounded. The 
most formidable weapons of the Spaniards were stones, 
which, from behind their protecting barricades, they hurled 
upon the boarders. " But we new-trimmed our sails," says 
the early relation, " and fitted every man his furniture, and 
gave them a fresh encounter with our great ordnance, and 
also with our small shot, raking them through and through 
to the kiUing and wounding of many of their men. Their 
captain still, lilce a valiant man, with his company stood 
very stoiitly into his close fights, not yielding as yet. Our 
general, encouraging his men afresh with the whole voice 
of trumpets, gave them the other encounter with our great 
ordnance and all our small shot, to the great discouragement 
of our enemies, raking them through in divers places, kill- 
ing and wounding many of their men. They being thus 
discouraged and spoiled, and their ship being in hazard of 
sinking by reason of the great shot which were made, 
whereof some were under water, within five or six hours' 
fight sent out a flag of truce and parleyed for mercy, desir- 
ing our general to save their lives and to take their goods, 
and that they would presently yield. Our general of his 
goodness promised them mercy, and called them to strike 
their sails, and to hoise out their boat, and come on board ; 
which news they were full glad to hear of, and presently 
struck their sails, hoisted out their boat, and one of their 
chief merchants came on board unto our general, and, fall- 
ing down upon his knees, offered to have kissed our gene- 
ral's feet, and craved mercy. Our general graciously par- 
doned both him and the rest, upon promise of their true deal- 
ing with him and his company concerning such riches as 
were in the ship ; and sent for their captain and pilot, who 
at their coming used the like duty and reverence as the for- 
mer did. The general, out of his great mercy and human- 
ity, promised their lives and good usage." 

The Santa Anna was a prize worth the trouble bestowed 
in securing her. She was of 700 tons burden, and the prop- 
erty of the King of Spain. Besides a rich cargo of silks, 
satins, damasks, wine, preserved fruits, musk, &c., there 
were on board 1.22,000 pesos in gold. The provision made 
for the passengers was also of the best kind, and afforded 
luxuries to the English ships' companies to which they had 
hitherto been strangers. Cavendish carried his prize into 



140 FATE OF THE PRISONERS. 

a bay within Cape St. Lucas, named ])y the Spaniards 
Aguada Segura, or The Safe Watering-place, where he 
landed the crew and passengers to the number of a hundred 
and ninety persons, among whom were some females. 

The captain-general deemed it impolitic to allow these 
persons to proceed direct to New Spain, and the place on 
which he landed them afforded water, wood, fish, fowl, and 
abundance of hares and rabbits. He presented them with 
part of the ship's stores, with wine, and with the sails of 
their dismantled vessel, to construct tents for their shelter. 
He also gave the seamen weapons for their defence against 
the natives, and planks, of which they might build a bark to 
convey the whole party to the settlements. 

Among the passengers by the Santa Anna were two lads, 
natives of .Tapan, who could both read and write their own 
language, and three boys from Manilla."^ These, with a 
Portuguese who had been in Canton, the Philippines, and 
the islands of Japan, Cavendish carried with him, and also 
a Spanish pilot. 

The division of the spoils occasioned great discontent, 
particularly among the crew of the vice-admiral's ship, who 
imagined that Cavendish favoured the company of the De- 
sire. But the dissatisfaction was apparently suppressed, 
and by the 17th November, "the queen's day," all business 
being completed, a few hours were devoted by the loyal 
English to gayety and festivity ; and a discharge of the 
great guns and a display of fireworks proclaimed to these 
lonely shores the glory of Elizabeth of England. As the 
completion of their rejoicing, the Santa Anna, with all of her 
goods that could not be stowed into the English ships, was 
set on fire, and left burning ; and firing a parting salute to 
the desertedt Spaniards, the Desire and the Content bore 

* An Indian boy as a page was at that period a mark of almost regal 
splendour. The youngest of these boys, a child about ten, was on the 
return of the expedition presented to the Countess of Essex as an 
attendant. 

t The fate of the Spaniards left on this part of California affords a re- 
markable instance of the kindness of Providence. The same place had 
formerly been abandoned by a colony planted by Cortes, from the settlers 
not being able to obtain sustenance; and the persons now left were 
even more helpless than the first colonists. Though the coast was nei- 
ther steril nor j'et ungenial in climate, many of them must have perished 
before they could have been able to build a vessel large enough to carry 
iwo bun'Jred persons to Acapulco. Their mode of deliverance was sin' 



COURSE ACROSS THE PACIFIC. 141 

away for England, which, before they could again arrive at, 
so much of the circumference of the globe must be trav- 
ersed. Before coming to St. Lucas, the George, the Span- 
ish prize, had been abandoned ; and now, in coming out of 
the bay, the Content lagged astern, and was never again 
seen by her consort.- 

The Desire, thus left alone, as the Golden Hind had been 
before her, holding her solitary course across the Pacific, t 
on the 3d January, 1588, came in sight of Guahan, one of 
the Ladrones. For forty-five days the English had enjoyed 
fair winds, and had sailed a distance roughly estimated at 
between seventeen and eighteen hundred leagues. When 
within five or sis miles of Guahan, fifty or more canoes full 
of people cam.e off to meet the ship, bringing the commodi- 
ties with which they were now in the habit of supplying the 
Spaniards, namely, fish, potatoes, plantains, and cocoas, ' 
which were exchanged for pieces of iron. This traffic was 
pHed so eagerly that it became troublesome ; and Caven- 
dish, who was never distinguished for patience or forbear- 
ance, with five of his men, fired to drive the natives back 
from the ship. They dived so nimbly to evade the shot, 
that it could not be ascertained what execution was done. 
The people here were of tav/ny complexion, corpulent, and 
of taller stature than ordinary-sized Englishmen. Their 

gular. The English left the Santa Anna burnt down to the water's 
edge, and still in flames when they sailed. In a short time the fire freed 
her from her anchors, and the flood-tide drifted her still burning into the 
bay, where the Spaniards were able to extinguish the conflagration just 
in time to save so much of the hull of this large ship as with slight refit- 
ting proved an ark for their deliverance. 

* No trace of this ship remains in any contemporary relation so far as 
"we have seen. It is imagined that the company, who were dissatisfied 
with Cavendish, might have resolved to desert him and return by the 
straits, and that they might have perished in the attempt. Another and 
equally probable conjecture was, that they had attempted the north-west 
passage. This at least, as we afterward incidentally learn, seems to 
have been the opinion of the Spanish pilot, who was compelled to return 
to the Indies in the Desire. 

t In the library of the Middle Temple there is, or lately was, a globe, 
constructed in 1603, at the cost of William Sanderson, in which the 
course of Cavendish across the Pacific is laid down. It is to be recol- 
lected that he now had on board a Spanish pilot accustomed to make the 
voyage between Acapulco and the Philippines, touching at the Ladrones, 
where water and refreshments were found. The course described on 
this globe is from Cape St. Lucas S. W. till the latitude is decreased to 
between 12° and 13° N. ; after which the course is due west to the La- 
drones. 



142 THE WEALTH OF MANILLA. 

hair was long, but some wore it tied up in one or two knots 
on the crown of the head. The construction of their canoes 
greatly excited the admiration of the English seamen, 
formed, as they were, without any " edge-tool." These 
canoes were from six to seven yards in length, but very 
narrow, and moulded in the same way at prow and stern. 
They had square and triangular sails of cloth made of bul- 
rushes, and were ornamented with head figures carved in 
wood, " like unto images of the Devil." They appeared in 
the canoes entirely naked, and were dexterous divers and 
excellent swimmers. 

On the 14th January tlie Desire made Cape Spirito Santo, 
the first point of the Philippines which was seen ; and on 
the same night entered the strait now named the Strait ot 
San Bernardino. Next morning they came to anchor in ;, 
fine bay and safe harbour in the island then named Capul 
Though the Spanish settlement at Manilla was still com 
paratively recent, it had risen and flourished so rapidly that 
it was already become a place of great wealth and commer- 
oial importance. Besides the annual fleet to New Spain, it 
possessed a very considerable trade with China and the In- 
dian islands in the most valuable commodities. The people 
with whom Manilla enjoyed this trade, and particularly a 
people they name the Sanguelos, are described by the voy- 
agers as " of great genius and invention in handicrafts and 
sciences ; every one so expert, perfect, and skilful in his 
faculty, as few or no Christians are able to go beyond them 
in that they take in hand. For drawing and embroidery 
upon satin, silk, or lawn, either beast, fowl, fish, or worm ; 
for liveliness and perfectness, both in silk, silver, gold, and 
pearl, they excel." 

As soon as the Desire came to anchor oflf Capul, one of 
the chiefs, of whom there were seven in the island, came 
on board, presuming the ship to be Spanish. His people 
brought a supply of potatoes, Vv^hich they called camotaes, 
and green cocoas. The rate of exchange, or the prices, 
would now be thought high, A yard of linen was given 
for four cocoas, and the same quantity for about a quart 
of potatoes. These roots were thought good either boiled 
or roasted, and were much relished by the crew. The 
eacique was "carved" (tattooed) in various streaks and 
jdevices. He was requested to remain on board, and a 



PLOT OF THE SPANISH PILOT. 143 

message of invitation being sent to the other chiefs, they 
also repaired to the ship, bringing hogs and hens to ex- 
change. The rate which was uniform was, for a hog eight 
ryals of plate, and for a fowl one. This trade went on 
all day, and the ship, after her long run, was well supphed 
with refreshments. On the same night a fortunate dis- 
covery was made by the Portuguese taken out of the 
Santa Anna on account of his knowledge of the Philip- 
pines and of China. The Spanish pilot had, it appeared, 
prepared a letter, which he hoped secretly to convey to the 
governor at Manilla, informing him of the English ship, 
which it would not be difficult to surprise and overpower. 
If this vessel was allowed to escape with impunity, he 
pointed out that the settlement might next year be taken 
by those who had now the audacity with so small a force 
to approach its vicinity. He described in what manner the 
English ship might be taken where she now rode. This 
crime, or act of patriotism, was clearly brought home to 
the pilot, who was next morning hanged for doing Iiis 
duty to his native country and sovereign. 

Cavendish remained here nine days for the refreshment 
of the ship's company, and to obtain a store of provisions. 
Some singular customs are ascribed to the natives of 
Capul. They practised circumcision. By an opinion, 
not rare " of the heathen" in those days, nor yet altogether 
exploded among persons better instructed than the early 
navigators, the islanders are alleged to have " wholly wor- 
shipped the Devil, and oftentimes to have conference with 
him, who appeareth unto them in a most ugly, monstrous 
shape." On the 23d January the captain-general caused 
the seven chiefs of this island, " and of a hundred islands 
more," to appear before him, and pay him tribute in hogs, 
poultry, cocoas, and potatoes ; at which ceremony he in- 
formed them of his country, spread the banner of England 
from his masthead, and sounded the drums and trumpets. 
Due homage and submission were made to the representa- 
tive of England, and the enemy of Spain ; and this being 
all that was required, the value of the tribute was paid 
back to the natives in money. The Indians, at parting, 
promised to assist the English in conquering the Spaniards 
at any future time ; and, to amuse their new friends, 
showed feats of swift rowing round the ship The general 



144 SKIRMISH JAVA MAJOR. 

fired off a piece of ordnance as a farewell, and the new 
tributaries went away contented and pleased. The "hun- 
dred islands more" look like a flourish of the narrator, 
thickly as islands are clustered together at this place. 
Next day they ran along the coast of Manilla, arid on the 
28th chased a frigate, which escaped into some inlet. 
Chase was given by the boat in those places which 
were so shallow that the ship could not approach. The 
crew was afterward shot at by a party of Spanish soldiers 
from the shore ; and a frigate was manned by them and 
sent in pursuit, which chased the English boat till within 
reach of the guns of the Desire. The boat's crew had 
previously made a Spaniard prisoner, v/hom they found in 
a canoe from which the natives escaped ; and next day 
Cavendish sent a message by him to the captain of the 
Spanish party, who at different stations kept watch along 
the coast, desirir.'g that officer to provide a good store of 
gold, as he intended to visit him at Manilla in a few years, 
and, if his boat had been larger, would have visited him 
then. 

About the middle of February Mr. Cavendish passed 
near the Moluccas, but did not touch at these islands. 
Fever now visited the ship's company, which had hitherto 
been very healthy ; but only two of the men died, and one 
of these had long been sick, so that his death could not be 
attributed to the climate and the excessive heat which occa- 
sioned the illness of the others. On the 1st of March the 
Desire passed through the straits at the west end of Java 
Minor, and on the 5th anchored in a bay at the west end^ 
of Java Major. A negro found in the Santa Anna was 
able to converse with some natives who were here found 
fishing. Through this interpreter, who spoke the Morisco 
or Arabic language, they were informed that provisions 
might be obtained ; and in a few ,days afterward two or 
three canoes arrived laden with fowls, eggs, fresh fish, 
oranges, and limes. That the ship might be more con- 
veniently victualled they stood in nearer the tov/n, and 
were visited by the king's secretary, who brought the 
general a present, including, among other things, "wine 

* There appears to be some difference of opinion as to the point at 
•whifih the ship now anchored 



CUSTOMS Of JAVA. 145 

fes strong as aquavitse, and as clear as rock-water."* This 
distinguished official, who promised that the ship should 
be supplied in four days, was treated with all the magnifi- 
cence that CaA^endish could command. The wines and 
preserves of the Spanish prize were produced for his enter- 
tainment ; and the English musicians exerted their skill* 
The secretary, who remained on board all night, saw the 
watch set and the guns fired off, and was inforrhed that 
the ship's company were Englishmen, natives of a country 
which already traded with China, f and that they were 
come hither for discovery and trafiic. The Portuguese 
had already established a factory on the island, where they 
traded in cloves, pepper, sugar, slaves, and other merchan- 
dise of the East* Two of these Portuguese merchants 
afterward visited the ship, eager to obtain news of their 
country and of Don Antonio their prince. They were in- 
formed that he was then in England, honourably enter- 
tained by the queen ; and were delighted to hear of the 
havoc Cavendish had made among the Spanish shipping 
in the South Sea, as he told them that he was " warring 
upon them (the Spaniards) under the King of Portugal." 
The Europeans who met on this distant coast were mu* 
tually delighted with their short intercourse. Cavendish 
banqueted the Portuguese merchants, and entertained 
them with music as well as with political inteUigence ; 
and to him they described the riches of Java, and the most 
remarkable customs observed by the natives. The reign- 
ing king or rajah was named Bolamboam, and was re- 
ported to be one hundred and fifty years of age. He was 
held in great veneration by his subjects, none of whom 
durst trade with any nation without his license under pain 
of death. The old king had a hundred wives ; and his 
son fifty. In Bolamboam the old voyagers give a perfect 
picture of an absolute prince. The .lavans paid him un- 
limited obedience. Whatever he commanded, be the un- 
dertaking ever so dangerous or desperate, no one durst 
shrink from executing it ; and their heads were the forfeit 
of their failure. They were " the bravest race in the 

* This we imagined arrack ; but in the margin of an old voyage we 
find it called niper-wine. 
t No excuse is offered for this pious fraud. 

N 



146 ISLAND OF STi HELENA. 

south-eastern parts of the globe, never fearing death.** 
The men were naked, and dark in colour ; but the women 
were partly clothed, and in complexion much fairer. 
When the king died his body was burned, and the ashes 
were preserved. Five days afterward his queen, or prin- 
cipal wife, threw a ball from her with which she was 
provided, and wherever it ran thither all the wives repaired. 
Each turned her face eastward, — and, with a dagger as 
sharp as a razor, stabbed herself to the heart, and, bathed 
in her own blood, fell upon her face, and thus died. 
" This thing," we are assured, " is as true as it may seem 
to any hearer to be strange." The Portuguese factors, 
before parting with Cavendish, proposed that their acknow- 
ledged king, Don Antonio, should come out, and here 
found an empire, which should comprehend the Moluccas, 
Ceylon, China, and the Philippines. They were assured 
that all the natives of these countries would declare for 
him. A kind reception was also promised to the English 
at their return ; and Cavendish, having fully satisfied 
them for the supplies furnished to his ship, fired a parting 
salute of three guns, and on the 16th March sailed for the 
Cape of Good Hope. 

The rest of this month and the month of April werei 
spent " in traversing that mighty and vast sea between 
the island of Java and the main of Africa, observing the 
heavens, the Crosiers or 'South Pole, the other stars, and 
the fowls, which are marks unto seamen ; fair weather, 
foul weather, approaching of lands or islands, the winds, 
tempests, the rains and thunders, with the alteration of the 
tides and currents." On the 10th of May a storm arose, 
and they were afterward becalmed ; and, in the thick hazy 
weather of the calm, mistook Cape False for the CsLp& of 
Good Hope, which they passed on the 16th, having ruil 
1850 leagues in nine weeks. 

On the 8th June the island of St. Helena was seen, and 
on the 9th they anchored in the harbour. The description 
of this station, so important t6 navigators, would apply 
with perfect accuracy even at this day, so far as regards 
external appearance or the natural productions of that de- 
licious resting-place, of which at that time the Portuguese 
still enjoyed sole possession. They had now held this 



RETURN TO PLYMOUTH. 147 

island for upwards of eighty years ; and, though it had 
never been regularly colonized, they had done much to 
store it with every thing necessary to the refreshment of 
seamen on a long voyage. Already it abounded in all 
sorts of herbs, and in delicious fruits. Partridges, pheas- 
ants, turkeys, goats, and wild hogs were also obtained in 
abundance. 

At St. Helena Cavendish remained till the 20th, clean- 
ing the ship, and obtaining refreshments, when the Desire 
once more got under way for England. About the end 
of August they passed the Azores, and on the 3d Sep- 
tember met a Flemish hulk from Lisbon, which informed 
them of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, to their " great 
rejoicing." In the channel they were overtaken by the 
same terrible tempest that made such havoc among the 
Spanish ships which were driven round the coast of Ire- 
land and to the north of Scotland ; but were so fortunate 
as to complete the third circumnavigation of the globe at 
Plymouth on the 9th September, 1588, — two years and 
fifty days from the time they had left the same harbour, 
and in a considerably shorter time than either Drake or 
Magellan had made the same voyage. 

Very copious nautical notes and remarks on this voyage 
were published by Mr. Thomas Fuller of Ipswich, the sail- 
ing-master of the Desire. They must have/ been of great 
value at the time, but have been superseded by more 
modern charts, in forming which, though the observations 
may not be more accurate, the navigators have had the 
advantage of more perfect instruments. The only geo- 
graphical discovery made by Cavendish in this navigation 
was Port Desire, on the Patagonian coast, the landmarks 
of which Fuller has accurately described, though it has fre- 
quently been made the subject of dispute among modern 
voyagers. 

The fame of the exploits of Cavendish, and of the great 
wealth which he had brought home, " enough to buy a fair 
earldom," almost rivalled the accounts of Drake's wonder- 
ful voyage. Among other rumours it was said, that when 
he entered the harbour of Plymouth his sails were all of 
silk. In the tempest which overtook them in the channel 
the sails were lost and it is jprobable that Cavendish 



148 cavendish's account of the voyage, 

might have been compelled to employ some of his rich 
Indian damasks in the homely office of rigging his vessel ; 
though it is conjectured, with more feasibility, that his new 
suit of sails were canvass fabricated of the silk-grass used 
in the South Seas, which, being very lustrous, might easily 
be mistaken for silk. 

The earliest leisure of Cavendish was employed in writ^f 
ing to his patron, Lord Hunsdon, giving an account of his 
prosperous expedition. Whatever blame may in a more 
enlightened age be imputed to this navigator for the wanton 
outrages committed on the Spanish settlements and on the 
subjects of Spain, he appears to have thought himself en- 
titled to credit for their performance. Instead, therefore, 
of trying to conceal these deeds, in setting forth his ser- 
vices for her majesty, he makes them his boast ; and 
doubtless they were highly esteemed.* No better reca- 
pitulation of the events of this celebrated voyage can be 
found than that contained in his letter to Lord Hunsdon, 
an extract of which may form an appropriate conclusion 
to this chapter. " It hath pleased Almighty God," says 
the writer, " to suffer me to circumpass the whole globe of 
the world, entering in at the Strait of Magellan, and return- 
ing by the Cape de Buena Esperan9a ; in which voyage I 
have either discovered or brought certain intelligence of all 
the rich places of the world which were ever discovered by 
any Christian. I navigated along the coast of Chili, Peru, 
and New Spain, where I made great spoils. 1 burnt and 
sunk nineteen sails of ships small and great. All the 
villages and towns that ever I landed at I burned and 
spoiled. And had I not been discovered upon the coast, I 
had taken great quantity of treasure. The matter of most 
profit unto me was a great ship of the king's which I took 
at California: which ship came from the Philippines,! 
being one of the richest of merchandise that ever passed 

*We have seen one account which states that Cavendish was 
knighted on his return, but it does not seem authentic. 

t It is not easy (o discover where Cavendish obcained this boasted 
information, and tlie map of China which he brouglit home ; and probar 
bly this might be from various sources,— from the Portuguese found in 
the Acapulco ship, who had b?en in Canton,— from the natives of the 
island he names Capul,— and, above 9II, froai the Portuguese factors in 
Java. 



SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH SEA. 149 

those seas. ..... From the Cape of California, being the 

uttermost part of all New Spain, I navigated to the 
islands of the Philippines, hard upon the coast of China, of 
which country I have brought such intelligence as hath 
not been heard of in these parts : the stateliness and riches 
of which I fear to make report of, lest I should not be 

credited I found out by the way homeward the 

island of Santa Helena, where the Portuguese used to re- 
lieve themselves ; and from that island God hath suffered 
me to return into England. All which services, with my- 
self, I humbly prostrate at her majesty's feet, desiring the 
Almighty long to contimje her reign among us ; for at this 
day she is the most famous and victorious princess that liveth 
in the world." 



CHAPTER VI. 

Second Voyage to the South Sea. 

New Expedition to the Soutli Sea— Attack on the Portuguese Settle- 
ments—Delay of the Squadron— Letter of Cavendish— Relation by 
Jane— Sufferings in MaL'ellaii's Straits— Separation of Davis— Davis's 
Southern Islands— Piety of tlie Captain— Nalives of Port Desire- 
Nine Men lost— Homeward Voyage of Davis— Adventures of Caven- 
dish— He loses twenty-four Men— Unfoitunale Affair at Spirito Santo 
— Fury and Indignation of Cavendish— Separation of the Roebuck- 
Discontent of the Crew— Firmness of the Commander— They miss 
St. Helena— Death of Cavendish— His Character. 

The second and final expedition of Cavendish to the 
South Seas was as remarkable for ill fortune as his first 
voyage had been distinguished by uninterrupted prosperity. 
This fortunate voyage, however, which gave such strong 
confirmation to the hopes excited by the adventure of Drake, 
encouraged many to a similar attempt, and during the two 
years following his return several expeditions were fitted 
out from England, though none of them proved successful. 

In three years after his return. Cavendish, having, accord- 
ing to some accounts, spent the greater part of the riches 
he had acquired in the South Sea, planned an expedition 
N2 



150 STRENGTH OF THE SQUADRON SANTOS. 

for China, by Magellan's Straits, and upon an extensive 
scale. It is asserted, with as much probability, that his 
wealth was laid out in equipping the new squadron, with 
which he put to sea on the 26tii August, 1591. It con- 
sisted of <' three tall ships" and two barks. As admiral of 
the fleet Cavendish sailed in the Leicester galleon ; and 
his old ship, the Desire, was commanded by the celebrated 
pilot, navigator, and fortunate discoverer. Captain John 
Davis.* The Roebuck, commanded by Mr. Cook, the 
Black Pinnace, and a small bark named the Dainty, which 
belonged to Mr. Adrian Gilbert, a gentleman of Devon« 
shire, who had been among the promoters of the discovery 
of the North-west Passage, completed the fleet. The two 
Japanese youths captured in the Acapulco ship on the 
former voyage accompanied Cavendish in this. 

Under the equinoctial line they were becalmed for twenty- 
seven days, burning beneath a hot sun, and exposed to the 
deadly night vapours, which threw many of the men into 
the scurvy. Their first capture was a Portuguese vessel, 
on the 2d December, off the coast of Brazil. It was laden 
with sugar, small wares, and slaves. 

On the 5th they pillaged Placenzia, a small Portuguese 
settlement ; and on the 16th surprised the town of Santos, 
where the inhanitf^nts were at mass when the party landed. 
Though Cavendish, both from principle and from natural 
-disposition, never lost an opportunity of spoiling the enemy, 
the object of this attack was to obtain provisions ; but this 
design, from the negligence of the captain of the Roebuck, 
was completely frustrated, The Indians carried every 
thing away ; and next day the prisoners in the church were 
either set free or contrived to escape, four old men being 
retained as hostages till the supplies came in. They never 
appeared ; and the consequence of mismanagement and 
delay was, that in lying five weeks before this place the 
provisions were wasted which should have sustained them 
in passing the straits, and the voyage was delayed, by this 
and other causes, till they found themselves, in the begin- 
ning of the southern winter, distant from the straits, and 
fihort of stores, 

* See Discovery and Adventure in the Polar Seas and Ile£ion% 
FlOUl>' Library, No. XVI. 



ENCOUNTER A GALE. 161 

On the 22(1 January they left Santos, burnt St. "Vincent 
on the 23(], and next day bore for the Straits of Magellan ; 
Port Desire, which Cavendish had discove tjd on his former 
voyage, being appointed as a rendezvous in case of separa- 
tion. On the 7th February the fleet was overtaken by a 
violent gale, and next day they were separated. Davis, in 
the Desire, made for the appointed harbour, and in the 
Wf^y fell in with the Roebuck, which had suffered dread- 
fully. On the 6th March these two ships reached Port 
Desire together, and in ten days afterward were joined by 
the Black Pinnace. The Dainty, the volunteer bark, re- 
turned to England, having stored herself with sugar at 
Santos while the other ships lay idle ; her captain was in 
the mean while on board the Roebuck, and was left without 
any thing save the clothes which he wore. 

In the gale, which scarcely abated from the 7th Feb- 
ruary to the middle of March, Cavendish suffered severely, 
and his officers and men had shown a disposition to mutiny ; 
so that, on rejoining the other ships on the 18th, he left 
the Leicester galleon in displeasure, and remained in the 
Desire, with Captahi Davis. Cavendish did not at this 
time complain more bitterly of the gentlemen of his own 
ship than he afterward violently accused Davis of having 
betrayed and abandoned him. His subsequent misfortunes 
affected his temper, and, it may be presumed, perverted his 
sense of justice. Though his company had not recovered 
the excessive fatigue and exhaustion caused by the late 
continued tempest, the galleon sailed with the fleet on the 
20th, and after enduring fresh storms, all the ships made 
the straits on the 8th April, and on the 14th passed in. In 
two days they had beat inwafd only ten leagues. 

An account is given in Purchas's Pilgrims of this most 
<lisastrous voyage, drawn up at sea by Cavendish, in his 
last illness. It is addressed to Sir Tristram Gorges, whom 
the unfortunate navigator appointed his executor, and is one 
of the most affecting narratives that ever was written, — the 
confession, wrung in bitterness of heart, from a high- 
spirited, proud, and headstrong man, who, having set his all 
upon a cast, and finding himself undone, endured the 
deeper mortification of believing he had been the dupe of 
those he implicitly trusted. Though we cannot admit the 
force of many of his allegations, nor the justice of his un- 



152 LETTER OF CAVENMSH. 

measured invective, it is impossible to withhold sympathy 
from his extreme distress. " We had been almost four 
months," says this melancholy relation, " between the coast 
of Brazil and the straits, being in distance not above 600 
leagues ; which is commonly run in twenty or thirty days ; 
but such was the adverseness of our fortune, that in coming' 
thither we spent the summer, and found the straits, in the 
beginning of a most extreme winter, not durable for Chris- 
tians After the month of May was come in, no- 
thing but such flights of snow, and extremity of frosts, as 
in all my life I never saw any to be compared with them. 
This extremity caused the weak men (in my ship only) to 
decay ; for, in seven or eight days, in this extremity, there 
died forty men and sickened seventy, so that there were not 
fifteen men able to staild upon the hatches." Another re- 
lation of the voyage written by Mr. John Jane, a friend of 
Captain Davis, even deepens this picture of distress. The 
squadron, beating for above a week against the wind into 
the straits, and in all that time advancing only fifty leagues, 
now lay in a sheltered cove on the south side of the pas- 
sage, and nearly opposite Cape Froward, where they re- 
mained till the 15th May, a period of extreme suffering. 
*' In this time," says Jane, " we endured extreme storms 
with perpetual snow, where many of our men died of 
cursed famine and miserable cold,* not having wherewith 

* Purchas's Pilgrims comprohends "The admirable and strange 
adventures of Master Anthony Knyvet, who went with Master Caven- 
dish in his second voyage," which for marvels, if not for invention and 
imagination, may rival the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. Knyvet 
wandered from the ship on the coast of Brazil, and was for many years 
among the " Cannibals." Many is the wonderful escape from death 
which he makes. In the straits, pulling off his stockings one nighl, all 
his toes came with them; but this is not so bad as tlie fortune of one 
Harris, who, blowing his nose with his fingers, throws it into the fire, 
and never recovers it again, as Knyvet seems to have done his toes by 
the good offices of a surgeon whom Cavendish employed, and who cured 
with muttering words. In the straits he saw both giants and pigmies. 
The footmarks of the giants at Port Desire were four times the length 
of an Englishman's foot. In the straits their stature was fifteen and six- 
teen spans long; and at Port Famine, or San Felipe, the desolate statioa 
of the Spanish colony, four or five thousand pigmies, with mouths 
reaching from ear to ear, were seen at one time, whose height was from 
four to five spans. Some of Kny vet's marvels relate to the singular 
subject of demoniac possession and satanic influence among the tribes 
with whom he sojourned. These accounts, and others of the elder voy- 
agers, are not materially different from those which we receive of the 



SEPARATION OF THE FLEET. 153 

to eover their bodies, nor to fill their belly, but living by, 
muscles, water, and weeds of the sea, with a small relief 
from the ship's stores of meal sometimes." Nor was this 
the worst ; " All the sick men in the galleon were most un-^ 
charitably put on shore into the woods, in the snow, wind, 
and cold, when men of good health could scarcely endure it, 
where they ended their lives in the highest degree of 
misery." Though Cavendish was still on board the Desire, 
it is impossible to free him of the blame of this inhuman 
abandonment of the sick. A consultation was now held, at 
which Davis, who had had great experience of the severities 
of the seasons in the north-west voyages, declared for push- 
ing forward, as the weather must speedily improve ; while 
Cavendish preferred the attempt of reaching China by 
doubling the Cape of Good Hope. For this voyage, how--, 
ever, the other commanders thought there were neither pro- 
visions nor equipments. At length, on a petition by the 
whole company being presented to Cavendish, he agreed to 
return to the coast of Brazil for supplies, and, thus fur- 
nished, again to attempt the straits. 

On the 15th May they accordingly sailed eastward, and 
on the midnight of the 20th, Davis in the Desire, and the 
Black Pinnace, were separated from the galleon, to which 
Cavendish had now returned. They never met again, and 
Cavendish, to the last moment of his unhappy life, accused 
Davis of having wilfully abandoned him. This treache- 
rous desertion, if such it was, — and by the friends of Davis 
it is strenuously denied,-^took place in the latitude of Port 
Desire, for which harbour Davis stood in, and also the 
Black Pinnace, expecting, as they at least pretended, to 
find the general. Here they took in water, and obtained at 
ebb-tide njuscles, and with hooks made of pins caught 
smelts, and thus spared their slender stock of provisions. 

An effort made by Davis to go in search of the captain- 
general in the pinnace was overruled, it is alleged, by the 
ship's company, who would not permit its departure. They 

South Sea islanders at the present time, and which we are assured by 
Ellis some of the early minsionaries were disposed to believe. On his 
return to England, Master Knyvet told Purchas, that he once heard an 
Indian conferring with the Spirit which possessed him, and threatening 
that, if it did not use him better, he would turn Christian ; the Spirit took 
tbe bint and left liim. 



154 

are even charged with open n'lutiny^ and two ringleaders 
are named. 

To clear himself of all suspicion, Davis, on the 2d June, 
drew up a relation of the voyage, of the separation, and of 
the state of the two ships lying here, which all the men sub- 
scribed. It certainly goes far to exonerate him. They 
remained in Port Desire till the 6th August, keeping watch 
on the hills for the galleon and the Roebuck ; one part of 
the company foraging for provisions of any kind that could 
be obtained, while others made nails, bolts, and ropes from 
an old cable, and thus supplied their wants in the best man- 
ner they could devise. There are, however, surmises, that 
all this labour was undertaken that Davis might be able to 
accomplish his great object of passing the straits, whatever 
became of the general, and whatever might have been his 
wishes or orders. After this refitting was accomplished, it 
was accordingly resolved to await the coming of Cavendish 
in the straits, for which, having at Penguin Isle salted 
twenty hogsheads of seals, they sailed on the night of the 
7th August, "the poorest wretches that ever were created." 

Several times they obtained a sight of the South Sea, 
and were driven back into the straits. While tossed about, 
they were on the 14th driven in " among certain islands 
never before discovered by any known relation, lying fifty 
leagues or better off the shore, east and northerly from the 
straits." These were the Falkland Islands, of which Cap- 
tain Davis certainly has the honour of being the original 
discoverer, as he had already been of the straits which still 
go by his name, and of other ports in the north seas. 
This discovery was shortly afterward claimed by Sir Rich- 
ard Hawkins, who gave these islands the name of Hawkins's 
Maiden Land, " for that it was discovered in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, my sovereign lady, and a maiden queen." 
The discovery of these islands has been claimed by the 
navigators of other countries, and a variety of names have 
Deen imposed upon them. Burney christens them anew 
*' Davis's Southern Islands," a distinction to which that cele- 
Drated navigator is fully entitled, though it will not be easy 
to change a nume so established as that of the Falkland 
islands, On the 2d October they got into the South Sea 
once more, and in the same night encountered a severe gale, 
which continued with unabated violence for many days. 



< PIETY OF DAVIS. I5d 

On the 4th the pinnace was lost : on the 5th the foresail 

was split and all torn ; " and the mizzen was brought to 
the foremast to make our ship work, the storm continuing 
beyond all description in fury, with hail, snow, rain, and 
wind, such and so mighty as that in nature it could not 
possibly be more ; the sea such and so lofty with continual 
breach, that many times we were doubtful whether our ship 
did sink or swim." The relation proceeds thus, with earnest 
pathetic simplicity : — " The 10th of October, being, by the 
account of our captain and master, very near the shore, the 
weather dark, the storm furious, and most of our men having 
given over to travail, we yielded ourselves to death without 
farther hope of succour. Our captain (Davis) sitting in 
the gallery very pensive, I came and brought him some 
Rosa Solis to comfort him, for he was so cold he was scarce 
able to move a joint. After he had drunk, and was com- 
forted in heart, he began for the ease of his conscience to 
make a large repetifion of his forepassed time, and with 
many grievous sighs he concluded in these words : — ' Oh 
most glorious God, with whose power the mightiest things 
among men are matters of no moment, I most humbly be- 
seech thee, that the intolerable burden of my sins may 
through the blood of Jesus Christ be taken from me ; and 
end our days with speed, or show us some merciful sign of 
thy love and our preservation.'* Having thus elided, he 
desired me not to make known to the company his intole- 
rable grief and anguish of mind, because they should not 
thereby be dismayed ; and so, suddenly, before I went from 
him, the sun shined clear ; so that he and the macter both 
observed the true elevation of the Pole, whereby they knew- 
by w^at course to recover the strait." The narrative goes 
on to relate a wonderful instance of preservation in doU- 
bUng a cape at the mouth of the strait on the 11th of Oc- 
tober. 

They at last put back into the strait in a most pitiable 
condition, the men "with their sinews stiff, their flesh 
dead," and in a state too horrible to be described. They 
found shelter and rest in a cove for a few days, but famine 
urged them on, and the weather, after a short interval of 
calm, became as stormy as before. " The storm growing 

* Onr readers will remember the admirable use which De Foe has 
shade of this scene. 



166 NATIVES OF PORT DESIRE* 

outrageous, our men could scarcely stand by their laboar j 
and the straits being full of turning reaches, we were con* 
strained, by the discretion of the captain and master in their 
accounts j to guide the ship in ilie hell-dark night when we 
could not see any shore." In this extremity they got back 
to Port Desire, and obtained wood and water ; and in Pen- 
guin Island found abundance of birds. One day, while most 
of the men were absent on their several duties, a multitude 
of the natives showed themselves, throwing dust upon their 
heads, " leaping and running like brute beasts, having 
vizards on their faces, like dogs' faces, or else their faces are 
dogs' faces indeed. We greatly feared lest they should 
set the ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire, 
whereat we much marvelled.* They came to windward 
of our ship, and set the bushes on fire, so that we were 
in a very stinking smoke ; but as soon as they came within 
reach of our shot we shot at them, and striking one of them 
in the thigh they all presently fled, aird we never saw them 
more." At this place a party of nine men were killed by 
the Indians, or were presumed to be so, as they went on 
shore, and were never again heard of. The relation points 
out, that " these were the mutineers, and this the place at 
tvhich they had formerly devised mischief" against Davis 
and his officers. Here they made salt by pouring salt- 
water in the hollows of the rocks, which in six days was 
granulated from evaporation by the heat of the sun. They 
found abundance of food, in eggs, penguins, seals, and 
young gulls ; and with train-oil fried scurvy-grass with 
eggs, "which (herb) took away all kinds of swellings, 
whereof many had died, and restored us to perfect health 
of body, so that we were in as good case as when we left 
England." — " Thus God did feed us, us it were, with manna 
from heaven." 

On the 22d December they sailed for Brazil with a stock 
of 14,000 dried penguins, of which they had an ample 
allowance, though their other provision was scantily dealt 

* 111 Mew Guinea Captain Cook sa^v a peculiar mode of " suddenly 
making fire," probably, however, very different from this. " Three In- 
dians rushed out of a wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance 
of 100 yards ; and as they ran towards us the foremost threw some- 
thing out of his hand, which burnt exactly like gunpowder, but made 
RO report. What these fires were we could not imagine."—" We saw 
fire aad smoke resembUng those of a musket, and of no longer duration." 






HOMEWARD VOYAGE OF DAVIS. 157 

out. In the beginning of February, in attempting by vio- 
lence to obtain some provisions at the Isle of Placenzia, on 
the coast of Brazil, thirteen of the men were killed by the 
Indians and Portuguese ; and of an original company of 
seventy only twenty-seven were now left in the Desire. 
They were again the sport of baffling winds ; the water 
ran short, and in the warm latitudes the penguins, their 
sole dependence for food, began to corrupt, " and ugly 
loathsome worms of an inch long were bred in them." The 
account of this plague is painfully striking. " Thifj worm 
did so mightily increase and devour our victuals, that 
there was in reason no hope how we should avoid famine, 
but be devoured of the wicked creatures. There v^as no- 
thing that they did not devour, iron only excepted, — our 
clothes, hats, boots, shirts, and stockings. And for the 
ship, they did eat the timbers ; so that we greatly feared 
they would undo us by eating through the ship's side. 
Great was the care and diligence of our captain, master, 
and company to consume these vermin ; but the more we 
laboured to kill them, the more they increased upon us ; so 
that at last we could not sleep for them, for they would eat 
our flesh like mosquitoes." The men now fell into strange 
and horrible diseases, and some became raging mad. A supply 
ij>f water was, however, obtained from the heavy rains which 
fell ; and this was the only solace of this most miserable 
voyage. Eleven died between the coast of Brazil and Bear 
Haven in Ireland ; and of the sixteen that survived only 
five were able to work the ship. If the design of Davis 
had been treacherously to abandon Mr. Cavendish, he was 
subjected to speedy and severe retribution.* 

To this unfortunate commander we must now return ; 
and brief space may suffice to relate a series of calamities 
which might weary the attention and exhaust the sympa- 
thies of even the most compassionate reader. The conjec- 
ture which Cavendish formed of the proceedings of Davis 
and the captain cf the Black Pinnace was perfectly correct. 
He states in his letter that he believed they would return 
to Port Desire, — ^a safe place of anchorage for ships of 

* " If," says Purchas, who has manifest doubts alDOUt the fidelity of 
Davis to his commander on this voyage,—" if he did deal treacherously, 
n"eachory found him out." After this period Davis made no fewer than 
fire voyages to the E^st Indies, and at last lost bis IUb In tbe year. 1605 
in a desperate quarrel with a Japanese. 



158 ADVENTURES OF CAVENDISH. 

Email burthen, though not such as he could safely approach, 
— and there refresh themselves, lay in a store of seals and 
birds, and seize a favourable season to pass the straits. 
And they did so. In speaking of Davis and of his conduct, 
Cavendish exclaims, " And now to come to tha:t villain 
that hath been the death of me and the decay of this whole 
action, — I mean Davis,— whose only treachery in running 
from me hath been utter ruin of all, if any good return by 
him, as ever you love me, make such friends as he, least of 
all others, may reap least gain. I assure myself you will 
be careful in all friendship of my last requests. My debts 
which be owing be nut much ; but I (most unfortunate 
villain !) was matched with the most abject-minded and mu- 
tinous company that ever was carried out of England by 
any man living." — " The short of all is this, — Davis's only 
intent was utterly to overthrow me, which he hath well 
performed." 

After the Desire and the Black Pinnace separated from 
the fleet, the Leicester galleon and Roebuck shaped their 
course for Brazil, keeping sight of each other. In 36° S. 
they encountered a dreadful storm, and were parted. For 
some time the galleon lay at anchor in the Bay of St. Vin- 
cent's ; and while here a party, almost in open defiance of 
the orders of Cavendish, landed to forage for provisions, 
and plunder the houses of the Portuguese farmers on the 
coast. They were wholly cut off, to the number of 
twenty-four men and an officer ; and the only boat which 
Cavendish had now left was thus lost. 

The Roebuck about this time returned without masts or 
sails, and " in the most miserable case ever ship was in." 
The captain-general felt the want of the boats and pinnace 
doubly severe, from being unable in the larger ships to enter 
the harbours, which were often barred, to be revenged on 
the " base dogs" who had killed his men. At some risk he 
made an attempt to go up the river before the town, that he 
might have the gratification of razing it ; but was compelled 
by his company to desist from an attempt which " was both 
desperate and most dangerous." With some difficulty they 
got back into deep water, and with the boat of the Roebuck 
and a crazy boat seized from the Portuguese a party landed, 
which destroyed a few cf the farm-houses, and got some 
provisions. It was now the intention of Cavendish to 



rNFORTUNATE AFFAIR AT SPIRITO SANTO. 159 

break up the Roebuck, and with the Leicester galleon, as 
Davis never appeared, return to the straits alone. But of 
this purpose he did not venture to inform his company, 
lest they might have broken out into open mutiny. So 
great was their horror of returning, *' that all of the better 
sort," he says, " had taken an oath upon the Bible to die 
rather than go back." St. Helena was therefore the point 
now talked of; and in the mean while an attempt was made 
to seize three Portuguese ships in the harbour of Spirito 
Santo. The plan of attack was unsuccessful. Of eighty 
armed men who left the ship on this ill-starred expedition 
about thirty-eight were killed and forty wounded. Among 
the killed was Captain Morgan, an officer whom Cavendish 
highly esteemed, who in this expedition was taunted into 
the commission of acts of foolhardy daring by the insult- 
ing speeches of those whom he led ; a weakness which, 
despite of their better judgment, has often proved fatal to 
brave men, as well as to the rash persons themselves whose 
ignorance and vanity tem])t them to become the critics and 
censors of enterprises of which they cannot comprehend the 
danger. Inability to endure the imputation of cowardice is 
indeed one of the most lamentable infirmities of noble minds. 
On the present occasion some of the seamen swore, *' that 
they never thought other than that Morgan was a coward 
that Murst not land upon a bauble ditch ;" upon which, 
wilfully running upon what he saw to be certain destruc- 
tion, he declared that he would land happen what would, 
and though against the counsel of his commander who re- 
mained in the ship. The consequences have been told. 

One circumstance strongly moved the generous indigna- 
tion of Cavendish. A party with the great boat called to 
another, which were attempting to storm a fort, to come 
and help them to hasten off, as they were exposed to a gall- 
ing fire. The numbers that rushed into the boat ran her 
aground, and ten men were obliged to leave her, who, to save 
themselves from the Indian arrows which flew thick, again 
ran in under the fort, and poured in a volley of musketry. 
Meanwhile the boat was got afloat, " and one that was mas- 
ter of the Roebuck (the most cowardly villain that ever 
w^as born of a woman !) caused them in the boat to row 
away, and so left those brave men a spoil for the Portu* 
gals. Yet they waded up to their necks in the water to 



160 ISLAND OF ST. SEBASTIAN. 

them ; but those merciless villains in the boat would have 
no pitj on them. Their excuse was, that the boat was 
so full of water that had they come in she would have sunk 
with them all in her. Thus vilely were those poor men lost." 
By the fatal adventure which he has thus narrated, Cav- 
endish, already in want of every necessary, was left with 
hardly as many efficient men as could raise the anchor. 
To add to his already accumulated misfortunes the Roebuck 
forsook him, the company of that ship being resolved to 
return home ; and, though the wounded lay in his vessel, 
they carried off the two surgeons and a great part of the 
common stores. In these distressing circumstances he got 
to the small uninhabited island of St. Sebastian, where he 
mended the old boats, and obtained a seasonable supply of 
water, of which they were in great want. Again Caven- 
dish spoke of returning to the straits, and used all the arts 
of persuasion with his company, but in vain. He showed 
them that they could " relieve themselves by salting seals 
and birds, &c. ; and further, should they get through the 
strait (which they might easily perform, considering they 
had the chiefest part of the summer before them), they 
could not but make a most rich voyage ; and that we should 
be the most infamous in the world, being within 600 leagues 
of the place where we so much desired, — to return home 
again so far being most infamous and beggarly. These 
persuasions," continues Cavendish, " took no place with 
them ; but most boldly they all affirmed that they had 
sworn they would never again go to the straits ; neither by 
no means would they. And one of the chiefest of this 
faction most proudly and stubbornly uttered these words 
to my face, in presence of all the rest ; which I seeing, and 
finding mine own faction to be so weak (for there were not 
any favoured my side but my poor cousin Locke, and the 
master of the ship), I took this bold companion by the bo- 
som, and with mine own hands put a rope about his neck, 
meaning resolutely to strangle him, for weapon about me 
I had none. His companions, seeing one of their chief 
champions in this case, and perceiving me go roundly to 
work with him, they all came to the master and desired 
him to speak, affirming, they would all be ready to take any 
course I thought good of ; so I, hearing this, stayed myself, 
and let the fellaw go." 



ATTEMPT TO REACH ST. HELENA. 161 

Having now boldly avowed his intention of returning to 
the straits, Cavendish landed on the island with a party of 
his soldiers and the carpenters, to new-build the boat, while 
the sailors on board mended and patched up the rigging 
and tackle of the ship. But he still suspected his men of 
treachery, and of the intention of deserting, and was in 
constant anxiety to get them once more on board, that the 
ship might depart for the straits. Before this could be 
accomplished, Cavendish, whom Fortune never wearied of 
persecuting, sustained another severe mischance. The 
wounded men were on shore on the island, which lay about 
a mile from the mainland, from whence the Portuguese 
watched all the proceedings of the ship's company during 
the building of the boat. Before all the wood and water 
were got in, and while some soldiers and seamen were still 
on the island, an Irishman, " a noble villain," contrived to 
go over to the continent upon a raft, and betray his de- 
fenceless comrades to the Portuguese. This was done in 
the night-time ; and besides those employed on the island 
and the sick, there chanced to be several men ashore, who 
frequently stole away from the ship at night to enjoy the 
freedom of the land. All were indiscriminately butchered. 
One of the few remaining sails which lay here was afso 
seized, and in their distressed circumstances proved another 
serious loss. " Thus," says the luckless adventurer, " I was 
forced to depart, Fortune never ceasing to lay her greatest 
adversities upon me. And now I am grown so weak that 
I am scarce able to hold the pen in my hand ; wherefore I 
must leave you to inquire of the rest of our most unhappy 
proceedings. But know this, that for the strait I could by 
no means get my company to give their consent to go. In 
truth, I desired notliing more than to attempt that course, 
rathei desiring to die in going forward than basely in re- 
turning back again ; but God would not suffer mo to die 
so happy a man." These " unhappy proceedings" to which 
he refers may, so far as they are known, be very briefly 
noticed. An attempt was made to reach the island of St. 
Helena, for which the company had reluctantly consented 
to steer only on Cavendish solemnly declaring that to 
England he would never go ; and that, if they refused to 
take such courses as he intended, the " ship and all should 
mnk in the seas together." This for a time made them 
02 



162 DEATH OF CAVENDISH. 

more tractable ; but having beat to 20° S. they refused 
to proceed farther, choosing rather to die where they were 
" than be starved in searching for an island which could 
never be found again." They were, however, once more 
induced to proceed southward, and in dreadful weather 
beat back to 28° S., and stood for St. Helena, which was 
most unhappily missed, owing to contrary winds and the 
unskilfulness of the sailing-master. One more effort this 
unfortunate commander made to induce his mutinous crew 
to regain the island, alarming them with the scarcity of 
provisions ; but they unanimously replied, " that they 
would be perished to death rather than not make for Eng* 
land." . 

It is believed that Mr. Cavendish did not long survive 
the events recorded above ; and it is certain that he died 
before the ship reached England. His letter, from which 
we have quoted, was not closed when the galleon reached 
8° N. From its commencement, — and it must have been 
written at many different sittings, — Cavendish had con- 
sidered himself a dying man. It opens with great ten- 
derness : — " Most loving friend, there is nothing in this 
world that makes a truer trial of friendship, than at death 
to' show mindfulness of love and friendship, which now you 
shall make a perfect experience of; desiring you to hold 
my love as dear, dying poor, as if I had been most infi- 
nitely rich. The success of this most unfortunate action, 
the bitter torments whereof lie so heavy upon me, as with 
much pain am I able to write these few lines, much less to 
make discourse to you of all the adverse haps that have 
befallen me in this voyage, the least whereof is my death." 
He adverts to the illness of " a most true friend, whom to 
name my heart bleeds," who, Uke himself, became the victim 
of the complicated distresses of this voyage. After the crown- 
ing misfortune of missing St. Helena, he says, " And now to 
tell you of my greatest grief, which was the sickness of my 
dear kinsman John Locke, who by this time was grown in 
great weakness, by reason whereof he desired rather quiet- 
ness and contentedness in our course, than such continual 
(disquietness as never ceased me. And now by this, what 
with grief for him and the continual trouble I endured 
among such hellhounds, my spirits were clean spent, wish- 
ing myself upon any desert place in the world, thictre to die* 



HIS CHARACTER. , |03 

rather than thus basely return home again. Which course, 
I swear to you, I had put in execution, had I found an 
island which thecardes (charts) make to be in 8° S. of the 
line. I swear to you I sougbt it with all diligence, mean- 
ing there to have ended my most unfortunate life. But 
God suffered not such happiness to light upon me, for I 
could by no means find it ; so, as I was forced to go towards 
England, and having got eight degrees by the north of the 
line, I lost my most dearest cousin. And now consider, 
whether a heart made of flesh be able to endure so many 
misfortunes, all falling upon me without intermission. And 
I thank my God, that in ending me he hath pleased to rid me 
of all farther troubles and mishaps." The rest of the letter 
refers to his private concerns, and especially to the discharge 
of his debts and the arrangeinent of his affairs for this pur- 
pose, — an act of friendship which he expected from the 
kindness of the gentleman he addressed. It then takes an 
affecting farewell of life and of the friend for whom he cher- 
ished so warm an affection. 

In his two voyages Cavendish experienced the greatest 
extremes of fortune ; his first adventure being even more 
brilliant and successful than the last — chiefly through the 
bad discipline and evil dispositions of his company — was 
disastrous and unhappy. Cavendish was still very young 
when he died. No naval commander ever more certainly 
sunk under the disease to which so many brave men have 
fallen victims, — a broken heart. In many things his conduct 
discovered the rashness and impetuosity of youth, and the 
want of that temper and self-command which are among 
the first qualities of a naval chief. The reproach of cruelty 
or at least of culpable indifference to the claims of humanity, 
which, from transactions in both voyages, and especially 
in the first, must rest upon his memory, ought in justice 
to be shared with the age in which he lived, and the state 
of moral feeling among the class to which he belonged by 
birth By the aristocracy " the vulgar," " the common 
sort," were still regarded as creatures of a different and 
inferior species ; while among seamen the destruction of 
Spaniards JKid " Portugals" was regarded as a positive 
virtue. By all classes negroes, Indians, and gentiles 
were held in no more esteem than brute animals, — human 
life as existing in beings so abject being regarded as of no 



164 DAMPIER. 

value whatever. But if Cavendish was tinged with the 
faults of his class, he partook largely of its virtues, — high 
spirit, courage, and intrepidity. Those who might be led 
to judge of some points of his conduct with strictness will 
be disposed to lenity by the recollection of his sufferings. 
As an English navigator his name is imperishable. On 
the authority of the accurate and veracious Stowe, we may 
in conclusion state that Thomas Cavendish "was of a 
delicate wit and personage." 



DAMPIER. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Buccmiers of America. 

Origin of the Bucaniers— Cattle-hunters of Hispaniola— Policy of 
France and England— Cruelty to the Caribs— Seizure of St. Christo 
pher's— Bucanier Settlement of Tortuga— Custonns of the Buca- 
niers — Their Maxims— Manner of dividing their Spoils— Their Char- 
acter—Capture of Jamaica— Enterprise of Legrand— Portugues and 
Mansvelt— The Bucanier Chief Lolonnois— His Cruelties— Manners 
of the Bucaniers — Montbar the Exterminator — First Expedition of 
Morgan— Pillage of Puerto del Principe— Storming of Porto Bello— 
Heroism of the Spanish Governor— Capture of MaracaiboandGibral 
tar— Stratagems of Morgan — Projected Bncanier Settlement— Storm 
ing of the Caslle of Chagre— March of the Bucaniers to Panama- 
Battle with the Spaniards— Cruelty of the FreebootiTS— Return of the 
Bucaniers to Chagre— Perfidy of Morgan— Proclamation of the 
Governor of Jamaica— Concluding History of Morgan— The Buca- 
niers again increase — Capture of Vera Cruz^They direct their Atten 
tion to Peru— Narrative ol" Danipier. 

Captain William Dampier, the remarkable person 
whose eventful life forms the subject of the remaining por- 
tion of this volume, was so long and so intimately asso- 
ciated with the Bucanikrs of America, that a brief ac- 
count of this extraordinary brotherhood forms an almost 
indispensable introduction to the adventures and discoveries 
of this eminent navigator. 




TE.jLiL£s,m m^mwumm 



HA-RSERS i-AM.-LIB . 



ORIGIN OF THE BUCANIERS. 165 

The Bucaniers owe their origin to the monopolizing 
spirit and selfish and jealous policy with which Spain ad 
ministered the affairs of her West India colonies. Early 
in the sixteenth century, both English and French ships, 
bound on trafficking adventures, had found their way to 
these settlements ; but it was not till after the enterprises 
of Drake, Raleigh, and Cumberland that they became fre- 
quent. The jealousy of Spain had been alarmed by their 
first appearance ; and the adoption of that system of offen- 
sive interference with the vessels of every nation that ven- 
tured near the tropic soon gave rise to the well-known 
maxim of the Bucaniers, " No peace beyond the liine." 

Though the name,. 

'• Linked to one virtue and a thousand crimes," 

by which the freebooters came to be distinguished, is of 
much later date than the era of Drake and his daring fol- 
lower John Oxnam,* there is no great violation of historical 
truth in ascribing to them the character which it signified, 
of indiscriminate plunderers of the Spaniards by sea and 
land, and in peace as well as in war. 

To the gradual rise of the extraordinary association, of 
which Drake and Oxnam were^ only the precursors, many 
causes contributed. The diminished population and de- 
cayed manufactures of old Spain could no longer supply 

* .John Oxnam was one of the followers of Drake in his attempt upon 
Nombre de Dios and Panama, and from the experience gained in that 
adventure formed one of the boldest designs known in the records of 
privateering. He held a very low situation among Drake's crew ; but 
being a man of capacity as well as of boundless courage, he obtained 
credit to equip a bark of 140 tons burthen, manned by 70 resolute fellows. 
Concealing his vessel on the coast, with these followers and a party of 
Indians at war with the Spaniards he crossed the Isthmus of Darien, 
carrying with him two pieces of ordnance. On a river which fell into 
the South Sea he set up a pinnace, in which he embarked with all his 
company and the Indians, and reaching the ocean undiscovered, he ranged 
at will along the coast and among the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of St. 
Michael, and acquired immense booty in gold and silver bars. The issue 
-of the adventure was less fortunate. The Governor of Panama obtained 
intelligence of the Engli.'ih pirate, whom he traced into a river. Oxnam 
and his party might have escaped had they been able to abandon the 
spoils, which they had concealed. Of their number some were killed in 
a skirmish ; others, among whom was Oxnam, were hanged as piratea 
It is with strict propriety we name this brave and enterprising English- 
man the first Bucanier. 



166 CATTLE-HUNTERS OF CUBA AND HISPANIOLA. 

her wealthy and rapidly-increasing settlements with those 
commodities which the West Indies and South America 
still continue to receive from the workshops and looms of 
France, England, and the Low Countries ; nor could the 
strictness and severity of the Spanish laws for regulating 
trade prevent the settlers on many parts of the coast and 
the islands from cheaply supplying themselves with luxuries 
and necessaries brought direct from these countries. Thus 
the contraband trade, eagerly followed by the ships of Eng- 
land, France, and Holland, and encouraged by the colonists, 
increased in defiance of prohibitions and of guarda costasy 
as the ships armed to protect the exclusive commerce of 
Spain were named, and became a thriving seminary for the 
growth of maritime freebooters, self-defence leading the 
contraband traders to retaliation, injustice to reprisal, and 
spoliation to actual piracy. 

Another collateral branch of the bucaniering system 
sprung up at the same time in a different quarter. No por- 
tion of the New World had suffered more from the injustice 
and enormous cruelty of the Spaniards than the fine islands 
of Cuba and Hispaniola. About the beginning of the six- 
teenth century, the mines and plantations of these islands 
had been abandoned for the more productive new settle- 
ments and richer mines of Mexico ; and the desolated and 
depopulated tracts, from which the aboriginal inhabitants 
had been extirpated, were soon overrun by immense herds 
of cattle, which, originally introduced by the Spaniards, 
had multiplied so rapidly that it was become a profitable 
employment to hunt them for the hides and tallow alone. 
While the matadores or Spanish hunters pursued this avo- 
cation, a more peaceful description of settlers began to 
form plantations around them, and to both classes the stolen 
visits of the French and English traders became every year 
more welcome. From trafficking on the coast, and occa- 
sionally foraging for provisions for their vessels on these un- 
inhalnted shores, the smugglers from time to time adopted 
the hunter's life, and ranged a.t will, though regarded by the 
Spanish government and settlers as interlopers. 

The first predatory hunters of Cuba and Hispaniola, if 
men following the chase in a desert may be so harshly 
termed, were, natives of France, From the customs con- 
nected with their vocation in the woods arose the formidable 



POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND. 167 

name of Bucanier, by which the association came to be dis- 
tinguished, whether pirates or forayers, on shore or m the 
wilderness. The term was adopted from the Carib Indians, 
who called the flesh which they prepared houcan, and gave 
the hut where it was slowly dried and smoked on wooden 
hurdles or barbecues the same appella.tion. To the title 
by which the desperadoes of England wr^re known the 
French preferred the name of Flibustier, said to be a corrup- 
tion of the English word freebooter. The Dutch named 
the natives of their country employed in this lawless mode 
of life Sea-rovers. Brethren of the Coast was another 
general denomination for this fraternity of pirates and out- 
laws ; till all distinctions were finally lost in the title of 
BucANiERs OH" AsiEaiCA. But the same feeling which 
induced men of respectable family to lay aside their real 
names on entering this association, led others of them to 
sweeten their imaginations with a term less intimately allied 
with every species of crime and excess ; and Dampier, 
among others, always spoke of the individual members- of 
the brotherhood as " privateers," while their vocation of 
piracy was named privateering. 

The depredations of this fortuitous assemblage of bold 
and dissolute men had been carried on in time of peace as 
hunters, smugglers, and pirates, and in time of war as 
privateers holding commissions from their respective coun- 
tries, for a long series of years before they attempted to 
form any regular settlement. During this time they had 
acted as the rude pioneers of the European states to which 
they respectively belonged, clearing the way for the indus- 
trious and peaceful settlers of France and England, both of 
which countries secretly cherished, while they ostentatiously 
disclaimed, the Bucaniers. From the era of the discovery 
of Columbus, both of these nations had cast longing eyes 
upon the West India islands, and if not under the auspices, 
yet by the assistance of their bold though lawless offspring 
the Bucaniers, settlements were at last effected. At the 
beginning of the 17th century, a point on which to rest 
their levers was all that was required'; and by a previous 
treaty of joint occupation and partition, the French and 
English, in 1625, on the same day, landed at opposite 
points of the island of St. Christopher's, and took posses- 
sion. The rights of the Caribs, whom the Spaniards had 



168 SPANISH CRUELTY TO THE CARIBS. 

fteither been able to enslave nor wholly to extirpate, do not 
appear to have obtained a moment's consideration from the 
statesmen of either France or England.* Though the 
Spaliiards had no settlement upon this island themselves^ 
their policy and interests did not quietly permit the natives 
of two active and industrious nations to obtain a permanent 
footing at a point whence they might quickly extend theif 
territory ; and instead of patiently waiting the result of 
misunderstanding between the colonists, which would 
more effectually have fought their battle, in 1629 they ex* 
pelled the intruders by force of arms, after a residence of 
above three years. The settlers only waited the departure 
of the Spanish armament to return to their old possessions, 
though some of them, thus cruelly expelled from their new* 



* The opinion held of the Indians in Europe, even towards the close 
pf the seventeenth century, may be gathered from EXquemelin, a Dutch 
Bucauier, whose history of the proueedings of his order is considered a 
work of such authority, tliat Raynal and other eminent writers have 
drawn most of their information from its pages. The Bucanier histo- 
rian, in accounting for the number of wild dogs which overran the 
islands, states that '•' The occasion was, that the Spaniards, having pos- 
sessed themselves of these isles, found them much peopled wth Indians. 
These were a barbarous sort of people, totally given to sensuality and a 
brutisli custom of life, hating all manner of labour, and only inclined t© 
move from place to place, killing and making war against their neigh- 
bours, not out of any ambition to reign, but only becatise they agreed not 
with themselves in some common terms of language. Hence, perceiv- 
ing the dominion of the Spaniards did lay a great restriction upon their 
lazy and brutish customs, tiiey conceived an incredible odium against 
them, such as never was to be reconciled ; but more especially because 
they saw them lake possession of their kingdoms and dominions. Here- 
upon they made against them all the resistance they were capable of, 
opposing everywhere their designs to the utmost of their power; until 
that the Spaniards, finding themselves to be cruelly bated by these 
Indiana, and nowhere secure from their treachery, resolved to extirpate 
and ruin them every one. * * * Hereupon these first conquerors 
of the New World made use of dogs to range and search the intricatest 
thickets of woods and forests for these their implacable and unconquer- 
able enemies. By these means they forced them to leave their ancient 
refuge and submit unto the sword, seeing no milder usage could serv« 
their turn. Hereupon they killed some, and, quartering their bodies, 
placed them in the highways, to the intent that others might take warn- 
ing from such punishment not to incur like danger. But severity proved 
to be of ill consequence ; for, instead of frightening them and reducing 
their minds to a civil society, they conceived such horror of the Spaniards 
ahd their proceedings, that they resolved to detest and fly their sight fbr 
ever ; and hence greater part diet in caves and subterraneous places of 
the woods and mountains, in which places I myself have se 
times great numbers of htrniau bones." 



ST. Christopher's — tortuga. 169 

formed homes, and rendered desperate by poverty and hatred 
of the Spaniards, had meanwhile augmented the bands of 
the freebooters, and to tlie reckless bravery of these lawless 
vagabonds, brought their own knowledge and experience, 
and the habits of social life. 

It was thus that step by step the narrow policy and op- 
pression of the Spaniards raised up those predatory hordes 
haunting the ocean and the coasts, which, from infringing 
their absurd commercial laws, or shooting a wild bullock in 
the forests, came at last continually to infest their trade and 
to destroy and pillage their richest settlements. 

As a convenient mart for their trade, which had been pro- 
digiously increased by the settlement of St. Christopher's 
and other causes, the hunters of Hispaniola and Cuba seized 
the island of Tortuga by surprising the small Spanish gar- 
rison which defended it, and here built magazines for their 
hides, tallow, and boucan, or dried meat, established their 
head-quarters, and opened a place of retreat for all Bucaniers. 
In the course of a few years European adventurers of every 
nation save Spain flocked to Tortuga ; and French and 
English settlements were rapidly planted, almost at random, 
on different islands, the new colonists being the natural 
allies and also the best customers of the Bucaniers, whom 
they, on the other hand, supplied with powder, shot, rum, 
tobacco, hatchets, and every thing necessary to their wild 
and irregular mode of life. As these new colonies rose into 
consequence they were severally claimed by the mother- 
country of the settlers, who, whether French or English, 
were not unfrequently turned out to make way for new pro- 
prietors who had been able iniquitously to obtain or pur- 
chase from the venal government at home the lands cleared 
and improved by the industry of the original adventurers. 
Many of the French settlers, indignant at the unmerited 
injustice of their distant government, who had left them 
unprotected in the first instance and pillaged them in the 
last, retired to other deserts, or joined the ranks of their 
friends the Bucaniers. 

The Bucanier settlement of Tortuga, situated at the very 
threshold of Hispaniola, was on every account obnoxious to 
the Spaniards, who took the first opportunity of destroying 
it. This was effected while the boldest of the population 
were absent in the chase, which they often followed fori 
P ' 



170 CUSTOMS OF THE BUCANIERS. 

months, and even years together, on the western shores of 
Hispaniola, without once visiting the scene of comparative 
civilization which they had created on the smaller island. 
Of the more peaceful of the settlers of Tortuga, %vho had 
already formed plantations and begun with success to cuUi* 
vate tobacco, which turned out of excellent quality, many 
were massacred ; those who fled to the woods and after- 
ward surrendered themselves were hanged ; while only a 
few escaped to their brethren in the forests of Hispaniola/ 
Thus every new occurrence tended to inflame the mutual 
hatred which had so long subsisted between the Spaniards 
and all other Europeans, and to propagate outrage. Tor- 
tuga was soon abandoned by the Spaniards^ who took so 
much pains to destroy the nest that they flattered themselves 
the hornets would not again congregate. In this they were 
deceived. The Bucaniers returned almost immediately, and 
became more formidable than ever, giving Spain a practical 
lesson on the impolicy of converting those who were in the 
fair way of becoming peaceful and industrious neighbours 
into active enemies, regularly banded and organized, and 
cordially united against a common foe. 

Above three hundred of the hunters returned to Tortuga 
after it had been thus desolated and abandoned by the Span- 
iards ; and their ranks were speedily recruited by constant 
levies of the young, the brave, and the enterprising of diiFer- 
ent European countries. 

From about this time cruising upon the Spaniards became 
more and more frequent ; and as the diminished number of 
cattle made the chase a less profitable occupation, piratical 
excursions increased and became more bold and alarming. 
The Brethren of the Coast had now been long known as a 
distinct association, and their laws, manners, and customs 
had become the subject of speculation and curiosity. 
Though their pecuharities have been egregiously magnified 
by the natural love of the marvellous, from which even phi- 
losophic historians are not altogether exempt, many of their 
customs were sufficiently remarkable to deserve notice. Like 
the laws and customs of other commtmities, the " Statute.s 
of the Bucaniers" originated in the necessities and exi- 
gences of their condition. Property, so far as regarded the 
means of sustenance, whether obtained in the chase or by 
pillage, was in common among this hardy brotherhood ; and 



THEIR USAGES AND MAXIMS. 171 

as they had no domestic ties, neither wife nor child, brother 
nor sister, being known among the Bucaniers, the want of 
family relations was supplied by strict comradeship, — one 
partner occasionally attending to household duties, while 
the other was engaged in the chase. It has been said that 
the surviving partner in this firm, whether seaman or hunter, 
became the general heir ; and this was probably often the 
case, though not a fixed law, as the Bucaniers frequently 
bequeathed property to their relatives in France or England. 
Their chief virtue was courage, which, urged by despera- 
tion, was often carried to an extreme unparalleled among 
other warlike associations. The fear of the gallows, which 
has frequ*»ntly converted the thief into a murderer, made 
the Bucanier a hero and a savage. Hardihood, the habit 
and the power of extreme endurance, might also, if exerted 
in a better cause, be reckoned among the virtues of the 
Bucaniers, had not their long seasons of entire privation 
been always followred by scenes of the most brutal excess. 
Their grand principle, the one thing needful to their exist- 
ence, was fidelity ; and so far at least as regarded the Span- 
iards the maxim of " honour among thieves" was never 
more scrupulously observed than among them. As their 
associations were voluntary, their engagements never ex- 
tended beyond the cruise or enterprise on hand, though they 
were frequently renewed. The ablest, the most brave, ac- 
tive, fortunate, and intriguing of their number was elected 
their commander ; but all the fighting-men appear to have 
assisted at councils. The same power which chose their 
leader could displace him, which was frequently done either 
from caprice or expediency. They sometimes settled per- 
sonal quarrels by duel ; but offences against the fraternity 
were visited by different punishments, as in extreme cases 
death, abandonment on a desert island, or simply banish- 
ment from the society. There appears to have been no 
obstacle to voluntarily quitting the brotherhood as often as 
inclination dictated such a step. Many of the peculiar 
habits of the Bucaniers are so fully detailed in the adven- 
tures of Dampier, that it is unnecessary to expatiate upon 
them in this ])lace. In the division of cheir booty, one main 
concern of all banditti, they appear, as soon as bucaniering 
became a system, to have followed nearly the same laws 
Which regulate privateers ; the owners' shares being of/ 



i 



172 MANNER OF DIVIDING THEIR SPOILS. 

course included in those of the company, who were them- 
selves the owners. A party being agreed upon a cruise, 
the day and place for embarkation was fixed, and every 
man repaired on board the ship with a specified quy,ntity of 
powder and shot. The next concern was to procure pro- 
visions, which consisted mostly of pork. Many of the 
Spaniards raised large herds of swine for the supply of the 
planters, and from their yards abundance was procured with 
no trouble save that in which the ferocious Bucaniers de- 
lighted, — robbery, often accompanied by murder. Turtle 
slightly salted was another article of the food which they 
stored, and for beeves and wild hogs they trusted to their 
firearms. Bread they seldom tasted, and at sea never 
thought about, though in later periods thoy sometimes pro- 
cured supplies of cassada, maize, and potatoes. Of this 
food every man ate generally twice a day, or at his own plea- 
sure, and without limitation ; there being in this respect no 
distinction between the commander and the meanest sea- 
man. The vessel fairly victualled, a final council was held, 
which determined the destination of the cruise and the plan 
of operations ; and articles were generally drawn up and 
subscribed which regulated the division of the spoils. The 
carpenter, the sailmaker, the surgeon, and the commander 
were in the first place paid out of the common stock. 
Wounds were next considered ; the value of the right arm, 
the most useful member of the Bucanier's body, being 
reckoned equal to six slaves, or six hundred pieces of eight. 
It is worthy of notice, that the eye and finger of the Buca- 
nier had the same value, which was one slave, or a hundred 
pieces of eight. The remainder was equally shared, save 
that the captain, besides his specific agreement, had five 
shares, and his mate two. Boys received a half-share. 
The first maxim in the code of the Bucanier, dictated hy 
necessity, was " no prey, no pay." An oath was some- 
times taken to prevent desertion before the cruise was 
ended, and against concealment of booty. 

In their cruises the freebooters often put into remote har- 
bours to careen or refit their ships, to obtain fruits and fish, 
to lie in wait for the Spanish traders, and to plunder either 
natives or Spaniards. The former they sometimes carried 
away, selling the men as slaves, while the women were 
compelled to labour among those of the Bucaniers who fol- 



THEIR SENTIMENTS OF RELIGION. 173 

lowed the chase. The dress of these ruffians assorted well 
with their brutal and ferocious character. It has been de- 
scribed as a fixed costume, though there is little doubt that 
the same necessity which dictates to the savage his clothing 
of skins prescribed to the Bucanier his filthy and terrific 
garb. This consisted of a shirt dipped in the blood of the 
cattle hunted and killed ; trousers prepared in the same 
Tude manner ; buskins without stockings, a cap with a small 
front, and a leathern girdle, into which were stuck knives, 
sabres, and pistols. The bloody garments, though attrib- 
uted to design, were probably among the hunters the effect 
of chance and slovenliness. Such was the complete equip- 
ment of the Bucanier. 

Among some few of the French Bucaniers, who had been 
driven to adopt an outlaw's hfe by the severity and injustice 
.of the colonial government and other causes, there some- 
times existed sentiments of honour, and even a perverted 
sense of religion. Prayers were occasionally put up for the 
success of a piratical expedition, and thanks given for vic- 
tory. We hear of one Bucanier commander who shot a 
seaman for behaving indecently during the performance of 
mass, but never once of the chalices and images belonging 
to any church being spared, whether the plunderers were 
French Catholics or English heretics. One rare instance 
is mentioned where a Bucanier carried his notions of hon- 
our to so overstrained a height as to punish breach of faith 
with a Spaniard, and to repress symptoms of treachery to 
•the common foe with the most prompt severity. Under a 
humane commander these lawless bands were occasionally 
less brutal and remorseless ; though, taking them as a 
whole, more unfavourable specimens of humanity could not 
be selected.' In the Bucanier were united the cruelty and 
ferocity of the savage with the circumvention and rapacity 
whlcV. are among the worst consequences of an imperfect 
civilization. Tbe Bucaniers, however, have their admirers. 
They are said to have been open and unsuspecting among 
themselves, liberal in their dealings, and guided in their pri 
vate intercourse by a frank and strictly honourable spirit 
The French fondly name them " nos braves ;" the English 
boast of their unparalleled exploits ; and writers of fiction 
grace the character with many brilUant traits of generosity 
and delicacy of feeling. We confess that there appears little 
P2 



174 CAPTURE OF JAMAICA. 

in their actual history to vindicate the elevated character 
given by those who from bravoes and lawless ruffians would 
fashion heroes of romance, and convert the Bucaniers of 
America into a new order of chivalry ; yet there is a wild 
and vivid interest about their roving adventures, independ- 
ently of the powerful curiosity naturally felt to learn how 
men placed in circumstances so different from the ordinary 
modes and usages of social life in civilized communities 
thought and acted. They afford another lesson. All forms 
of privation and endurance with which the vicissitudes of 
maritime adventure bring us acquainted, sink into insignifi- 
cance when compared with the hardships voluntarily and 
heroically sustained by the Bucaniers from the love of a life 
of boundless license and rapacity for Spanish gold. Base 
as were their governing motives, and ruthless as was their 
trade, it is impossible not to admire their manly hardihood 
and unconquerable perseverance. 

The Bucaniers had not long regained Tortuga, when 
it was betrayed by certain Frenchmen of their number into 
the hands of the French governor of the West Indies, who 
took possession of the island for the crown of France, and 
expelled the English Bucaniers, who had domineered over 
their associates. From that time the English pirates began 
to frequent the islands which were now reckoned to belong 
to their own nation. These they enriched by the lavish ex- 
penditure of their spoils. In 16.55 the Bucaniers lent 
powerful aid to their countrymen in the conquest of Jamaica, 
which thenceforth became their principal haunt when not 
cruising upon the enemy. There, in a few weeks or nights, 
they disgorged the plunder or gains of months and years in 
a course of riotous excess and the most dissolute profligacy. 

In a few years after the capture of Jamaica," the French 
freebooters had increased amazingly on the western shores 
of Hispaniola. The first remarkable exploits of the Buca- 
niers at sea were chiefly performed by these Frenchmen. 
Ships were their primary want ; but from small Indian 
canoes, in which they at first embarked, the naval power of 
the pirates soon rose to large fleets. Among their first bril- 
liant exploits, which led the way to many others, was the 
capture of a richly-laden galleon, vice-admiral of the yearly 
Spanish fleet. This was achieved by Pierre Legrand, a 
native of Dieppe, who by one bold stroke gained fame and 



ENTERPRISE OF PIERRE LEGRAND. 175 

fortune. . With a boat carrying four small pieces, which 
proved of no use to him, and twenty resolute followers, 
Pierre surprised this ship. For days and weeks he and his 
comrades had lain in wait for a prey, burning under a tropi- 
cal sun. They were almost exhausted by suffering and 
disappointment, when the galleon was descried separated 
from the fleet. The manner in which the capture was made 
offers a fair specimen of bucaniering daring and strategy. 
The boat in which the men lay concealed had been seen by 
the galleon all day, and one of the company had warned the 
captain of his suspicion of a nest of pirates lurking in the 
distant speck. The Spaniard haughtily and carelessly re- 
plied, " And what then I shall I be afraid of so pitiful a 
thing 1 no, though she were as good a ship as my own." 
He probably thought no more of the circumstance till, seated 
at cards with his friends in the same evening, he saw the 
Bucaniers rush into his cabin, having already overpowered 
the crew. Nor had the tassk proved difficult. 

Pierre and his company had kept aloof till dusk, when 
they made for the galleon with all the force of oars. The 
game was for death, — ignominious and cruel death, — 
slavery in the mines, — or victory and fortune : they must 
make good their attempt to board the galleon or perish. 
To render their courage desperate, Pierre ordered the sur- 
geon to bore holes in the side of the boat, that no other foot- 
ing might be left to his men than the decks of the Spaniard. 
This was directly performed, while each man, armed with 
a sword and pistols, silently climbed the sides of the ship. 
While one party rushed into the great cabin, and presented 
their pistols to the officers who sat at cards, another seized 
the gunroom, cutting down whoever stood in their way. 
As the Spaniards had been completely surprised, little op- 
position was offered. The ship surrendered, and was car- 
ried into France by Pierre, who, by a rare instance of good 
sense and moderation, from the time of obtaining this prize 
gave up the vocation of a Bucanier, in which, if fortunes 
were sometimes quickly acquired, they were as often rapidly 
lost, or certainly squandered. Legrand appears to have ex- 
ercised no unnecessary cruelty, and all of the Spanish sea- 
men not required in navigating the vessel were sent on 
shore. 

The enterprise by which Pierre Legrand had in one night 



176 PIERRE FRANCOIS AND PORTUGDES. 

gained fame and fortune was a signal for half the hunters 
and planters of Tortuga to rush to the sea. In their sniall 
canoes they cruised about, lying in wait for the barks in 
which the Spaniards conveyed to Havana and other ad- 
jacent ports hides, tobacco, and the produce of the boucan. 
These cargoes together with the boats were sold at Tortuga, 
and with the proceeds the freebooters were enabled to pro- 
cure and equip larger vessels. Carapeachy and even the 
shores of New Spain were now wdthin their extended range 
of cruising, and their expeditions became daily more distant 
and bold. The Spaniards now found it necessary to arm 
ships to protect the coast-trade as well as the galleons and 
flota. The Indian fleet and the treasure-ships were always 
the especial mark of the pirates, who found no species of 
goods so convenient either for transport or division as pieces 
of eight, though their friends and correspondents in the 
islands did all in their power to relieve them of the embar- 
rassment of heavier cargoes. The merchants of Jamaica 
and Tortuga might at this time have not unaptly been 
termed the brokers of the Bucaniers. 

Among other brilliant acts, Pierre Frangois, another 
Frenchman, with a handful of men in a boat, surprised and 
captured the vice-admiral of the Pearl fleet ; and was no 
sooner possessed of this ship than he raised his ambitious 
thoughts to the capture of the ship of war which formed 
the convoy. In this bold project he was disappointed, and 
^his prize retaken ; but not before he had stipulated for 
honourable conditions to himself and his company, and that 
they should be safely set on shore. About this time another 
noted Bucanier, Bartholomew Portugiies, cruising from 
Jamaica with a boat carrying four small pieces and a crew 
of thirty men, captured a large ship of twenty great guns 
with a crew of seventy men. This prize also was retaken 
in a few days by three Spanish ships, and the pirate carried 
into Campeachy ; whence, however, he contrived to escape, 
burning for vengeance upon the Spaniards for the severity 
with which he had been treated. The ingenuity of the Por- 
tuguese in evading the jail and the gallows, and his hair- 
hreadth escapes and stratagems to extricate himself from 
ithe consequences of his crimes, may vie with those of any 
IjeTO in the Newgate Calendar. 

The Spanish coasting- vessels, taught by experience, now 



SCOT MANSVELT— rLOLONNOlS. 177 

ventured cautiously to sea, and the number of Biicaniers at 
the same time increasing, land-expeditions were first under- 
taken, and villages, towns, and cities pillaged, sacked, and 
held to ransom. The first land-pirate was named Lewis 
Scot, who stormed and plundered (Jampeachy, and obtained 
a large sum for its ransom. Mansvell, and John Davies, u 
renowned Bucanier, born in Jamaica, next followed this 
new career with success. In these attempts Mansvelt con- 
ceived the design of forming an independent Bucanier 
establishment, holding neither of France, England, nor 
Holland, which should form a place of safe retreat to the 
freebooters of every nation. His success will be seen in 
the course of the narrative. 

In the annals of the sea-rovers no names are to be found 
more terrible than those of Lolonnois and Montbar, natives 
of France, and distinguished among the fraternity by pre- 
eminence in crime. The former was rather a monster in 
human form than a merely cruel man ; the latter appears to 
have had a taint of constitutional madness, which, however, 
took a most diabolical character. The nom de guerre of 
Lolonnois was borrowed from the native place of this fiend, 
which was near the sands of Olone. Little, however, is 
known about the ancestry of the pirate, who afterward be- 
came so celebrated for the variety and vicissitudes of his 
life, for desperate courage, and for insatiable cruelty. He 
had either been kidnapped when young, or had left France 
under a form of engagement then in common use in several 
countries of Europe, by which the adventurer agreed to 
serve for a certain number of years in the colonies. This 
practice, which was termed indenting, was indeed common 
till a very recent period, and was liabje to great abuses. 
From this servitude Lolonnois escaped, and entered with 
the Bucaniers. His address and courage soon rendered 
him conspicuous, and in a few years he was the owner of 
two canoes, and commanded twenty-two freebooters. With 
this small force he captured a Spanish frigate on the coast 
of Cuba. This Bucanier commander, of whom almost in- 
credible atrocities are relateJ, is said to have frequently 
thrown overboard the crews of the ships which he took. 
He is said to have struck off the heads of eighty prisoners 
with his own hand, refreshing himself by sucking the blood 
of the victims as it trickled down his sabre. It is even 



178 CRUELTIES OF LOLONNOIS. 

related, that in transports of frantic cruelty he has been 
known to tear out and devour the hearts of those who fell 
by his hand," and to pluck out the tongues of others. To 
this monster cruelty was an affair of calculation as well as 
of delight, and he reckoned the terror inspired by his name 
among the best means of success. With the fruits of rapine 
Lolonnois extended his range of depredation, and at last 
joined forces with another notorious brother of the order, 
Michael de Basco. With a force of eight ships and 650 
men they stormed and plundered the towns of Gibraltar and 
Maracaibo ; the former place being burnt on ransom not 
being paid, and the latter pillaged though terms of safety 
had been agreed upon. We shall not dwell upon the atro- 
cities which distinguish this expedition, the most lucrative 
that had yet been undertaken, as many ships were captured 
during the cruise, besides the plunder and ransom obtained 
in the towns. In this affair many of the French hunters 
had joined ; and the booty divided among the whole band, 
at the inland to which ihey retired for this purpose, amounted 
to 400,000 pieces of eight in money, plate, merchandise, 
household furniture, and clothes, — ^for nothing escaped the 
ravages of the Bucaniers. The name of Frangois Lolon- 
nois, already so formidable on the Spanish Main and the 
islands, now became a word of deeper horror to the mise* 
rable settlers, who lived in continual dread of a descent. 

After the plunder had been obtained and divided, the next 
stage of a regular bucaniering voyage was to some friendly 
island, Tortuga or Jamaica, where a market might be ob- 
tained for the divided spoils, and an opportunity given for 
the indulgence of the unbridled and gross licentiousness in 
which the pirates squandered their gains. This was either 
in gaming* to which the Bucaniers were strongly addicted, 
in the most brutal debauchery, or in those freaks of profligate 
extravagance which more or less characterize all uneducated 
seamen after long voyages. " Some of them," says their 
brother and historian, Exquemelin, " will spend three thou- 
sand pieces of eight in one night, not leaving themselves, 
peradventure, a shirt to wear on their backs in the morn- 
ing." He tells of one who would place a pipe of wine in 
the streets of Jamaica, and, offering his pistols at their 
breast, force all who passed to drink with him. " At other 
times he would do the same with barrels of ale and beer j 



HIS DEATH— MONTBAR. 179 

and very often with both his hands he would throw these 
liquors about the streets, and wet the clothes of such as 
passed by, without regarding whether he spoiled their ap- 
parel or not, were they men or women." Of Roche Brazil- 
iano, a pirate somewhat less cruel than many of the frater- 
nity, and of great courage and capacity in the affairs of his 
command, the chronicler states, " howbeit in his domestic^ 
and private affairs he had no good behaviour nor govern- 
ment over himself ; for in these he would oftentimes show 
himself either brutish or foolish. Many times, being in 
drink, he would run up and down the streets, beating or 
wounding whom he met,^— no person daring to oppose him 
or make any resistance." Such was the Bucanier in his 
moments of relaxation and social enjoyment, and such the 
delights which in a few weeks left the companions of 
Lolonnois penniless, and eager for the new expedition in 
which that detestable monster met a death worthy of his 
enormous crimes. The reputation which Lolonnois had 
gained by his last expedition made many new adventurers 
eager to swell his armament. Cruising along the coast of 
Cuba, and wherev'^er he went making rapid descents on In- 
dian villages or Spanish settlements, he at last experienced 
reverses, and on proposing to go to Guatimala many of the 
leading Bucaniers left him upon projects of their own* Fi- 
nally, after a train of disasters Lolonnois fell into the hands 
of certain of the Indians of the Darien, a fierce and cruel 
tribe, who were not unacquainted with the atrocities of the 
Bucaniers. By them he was torn alive limb from limb,-— 
his body consumed, and the ashes scattered abroad, " to the 
intent," says his historian, "that no tr^ce nor memory 
might remain of such an infamous creature." Many of his 
companions shared the same fate. 

The character of Montbar, the other French Bucanier 
formerly mentioned, is more romantic, if not more hu- 
mane. He appears to have been one of those unhappy 
though detestable beings who are created with a raging 
thirst for blood, and with whom cruelty is a passion 
and an appetite. Montbar was a gentleman of Langue- 
doc, who, from reading in his youth of the horrible cruelties 
practised by the Spaniards upon the Mexicans and Caribs, 
imbibed a hatred of the whole Spanish nation, which pos- 
sessed him like a phrensy^ It is howefver somewhat strange 



180 DESIGN OF mansvelt; 

that the impulse which led this singular person to join the 
ranks of the Bucaniers urged him to the commission of 
worse cruelties than those which he reprobated. His com- 
rades were often merciless from the lust of gold ; but 
Spanish blood was the sole passion of Montbar. It is re- 
lated by Raynal, that while at college, in acting the part 
of a Frenchman who quarrels with a Spaniard, he assaulted 
the youth who personated an individual of that hated nation 
with such fury that he had wellnigh strangled him. His 
imagination was perpetually haunted by the shapes of multi- 
tudes of persons butchered by monsters from Spain, who 
called upon him to revenge them. While on his passage 
outward to league himself with the brethren of the coast, 
the inveterate enemies of Spain, the vessel in which he sailed 
fell in with a Spanish ship, and captured it. No sooner had 
the Frenchmen boarded the vessel, than Montbar, with his 
sabre drawn, twice rushed along the decks, cutting his fran- 
tic way through the ranks of Spaniards, whom he swept 
down. While his comrades divided the booty acquired by 
his prowess, Montbar gloated over the mangled limbs of the 
detested people against whom he had vowed everlasting and 
deadly hate. From this and similar actions he acquired the 
name of the Exterminator. 

The Bucaniers of America had now become so nume- 
rous and powerful, and had been so successful in their dep- 
redations upon the richest and best-fortified places, both on 
the Main and the Spanish islands, that several settlements 
were' compelled to submit to the degradation of purchasing 
their forbearance by paying them contributions, equivalent 
in principle to the black-mail formerly levied by banditti in 
Scotland. This, however, merely increased their gains, 
and partially changed the scene of havoc. Their preda- 
tory excursions were immediately carried farther into the 
interior, and stretched more extensively along the coasts » 
of the continent. It was about this time that the popular 
Bucanier commander named Mansvelt formed the de- 
sign before alluded to, of establishing a Bucanier inde- 
pendent empire, — a project which was afterward enter- 
tained by his lieutenant, the famous or infamous Morgan, 
and reluctantly abandoned by such of the fraternity as 
were endowed with more foresight or greater ambition than « 
their associates. The intended seat of an empire, which 
might easily have been extended on all sides, was the 



EXPEDITION OF MORGAN^ 181 

island of Santa Katalina, now known by the name of Old 
Providence Island. For this point Mansvelt sailed from 
Jamaica in 1664, stormed the fort, and garrisoned the 
place with his own men ; but the English governor of 
Jamaica, who thought the Bucaniers more profitable as 
customers than desirable as independent allies, looked 
coldly upon the project of a settlement so far beyond his 
control. He forbade recruiting in Jamaica in furtherance 
of this project, and Mansvelt died suddenly before it could 
otherwise be effected. He was succeeded by the most 
renowned of the English Bucaniers, Captain Sir Henry 
Morgan. The new Bucanier generalissimo, though 
equally brave and daring with his predecessor, was cf a 
more sordid and brutal character, selfish and cunning, and 
without any spark of the reckless generosity which some- 
times graced the freebooter and contrasted with his crimes. 
He was a native of Wales, and the son of a respectable 
yeoman. Early inclination led him to the sea ; and em- 
barking for Barbadoes, by a fate common to all unpro- 
tected adventurers, he was sold for a term of years. After 
effecting his escape, or emancipation, Morgan joined the 
Bucaniers, and in a short time saved a little money, with 
which, in concert with a few comrades, he equipped a bark, 
of which he was chosen commander. The adventurers 
made a fortunate cruise in the Bay of Campeachy ; after 
which Morgan joined Mansvelt in the assault of Santa 
Katalina or Providence, and by a lucky stroke, at the death 
of Mansvelt, succeeded, as has been noticed, to the chief 
command. Notwithstanding the eiforts of M organ to retain 
Old Providence, as the Governor of Jamaica still refused to 
allow recruits to go from that island, and the merchants of 
Virginia and New-England declined sending him supplies, 
it fell once more into the hands of the Spaniards, and the 
Bucaniers were driven to seek a new place of refuge. 
The Cayosy or islets near the south coast of Cuba, had for 
some time been their haunting-place. At these Keys, as 
they were corruptly termed by the English, they mustered 
from all quarters as often as a joint expedition was con- 
templated ; and here they watered, refitted, held their coun- 
cils in safety, and waited till their fleet had been victualled 
either by pillage or purchase. 

To the Keys cm the south of Cuba, the rendezvous ap 



182 PILLAGE OF PUERTO DEL PRINCIPE. 

pointed by Morgan, about twelve sail in ships and boats 
had now repaired, with above seven hundred fighting men, 
French and English. The disposal of this armament and 
force was the cause of difference of opinion, some wishing 
to attack Havana, while others, deeming this enterprise 
too formidable for their numbers, declared for Puerto del 
Principe in Cuba, which was accordingly taken and plun- 
dered, after a desperate assault and brave resistance. 
The Bucaniers, as soon as they became masters, shut up 
the pnncipal inhabitants in the churches, as the easiest way 
of disposing of them while they pillaged the city. Many 
of these unfortunate persons died of hunger ; others were 
put to the torture to compel them to discover concealed 
treasures, which probably had no existence save in the 
rapacious desires and extravagant fancies of the brutal and 
Ignorant Bucaniers. The booty obtained, or wrung forth 
from the inhabitants, was, however, considerable. Five 
hundred bullocks formed part of the ransom, which the in- 
solent freebooters compelled the Spaniards to kill and salt 
for them. A characteristic quarrel between a French and 
English Bucanier, which took place at this time, crippled 
the strength of Morgan, from whom, in consequence of this 
difference, many of his Gallican followers withdrew. The 
occasion of this national quarrel was an English Bucanier 
snatching the marrow-bones which the Frenchman had 
carefully prepared for his own repast. A challenge was 
the consequence ; and the Frenchman was unfairly or 
treacherously stabbed by his opponent. His countrymen 
embraced his cause, and Morgan put the murderer in 
chains, and afterward had him hung in Jamaica for this 
breach of the laws of honour and of brotherhood. 

In the mean while the pillage of Puerto del Principe 
being divided, the French Bucaniers, indignant at the 
murder of their countryman, left Morgan in spite of his 
entreaties, and the English were obliged to pursue their 
fortunes alone. 

The enterprises of Morgan, who was at once ambitious 
and greedy, display capacity, coolness, and daring. His 
next attempt combined all these qualities in a remarkable 
degree. With nine ships and boats, and four hundred and 
sixty of his countrymen, he resolved to assault Porto 
Bello ; but did not venture to disclose so bold a design 



ASSAULT ON PORTO BELLO. 183 

till it was no longer advisable to conceal it. To those who 
then objected that their force was inadequate to the attack, 
Morgan boldly replied, " That though their numbers were 
small, their hearts were good ; and the fewer the warriors 
the larger the shares of plunder." This last was an irre- 
sistible a,rgument ; and this strongly- fortified city was car- 
ried by a' handful of resolute men, who never scrupled at 
cruelty needful to the accomplishment of their object, and 
often revelled in the wantonness of unnecessary crime. 
The first fort or castle was deliberately blown up by fire 
being set to the powder-magazine, after many miserable 
prisoners, whose mangled limbs soon darkened the air, 
had been huddled into one room. Resistance was still 
attempted by the Spaniards, which greatly exasperated the 
besiegers, as it was into the forts which held out that the 
wealthy inhabitants had retired with their treasure and 
valuables. One strong fort it was necessary to carry with- 
out delay ; and broad scaling-ladders being constructed, 
Morgan compelled his prisoners to fix them to the walls. 
Many of those employed in this office were priests and 
nuns, dragged for this purpose from the cloisters. These, 
it was thought, their countrymen would spare ; while under 
their protection the Bucaniers might advance without 
being exposed to the fire of the castle. In these trying 
circumstances, forgetting the claims of country, and the 
sacred character of the innocent persons exposed to suffer- 
ing so unmerited, the Spanish governor consulted only his 
official duty ; and while the unhappy prisoners of the Buc- 
aniers implored his mercy, continued to pour shot upon 
all who approached the walls, whether pirates or the late 
peaceful inhabitants of the cloisters, his stern answer being 
that he would never surrender alive. Many of the friars 
and nuns were killed before the scaling-ladders could be 
fixed ; but that done, the Bucaniers, carrying with them 
fireballs and pots full of gunpowder, boldly mounted the 
walls, poured in their combustibles, and speedily effected 
an entrance. All the Spaniards demanded quarter except 
the govemor, who died fighting, in presence of his wife 
and daughter, declaring that he chose rather to die as a 
brave soldier than be hanged like a coward. The next act 
in the horrid drama of bucaniering conquest followed 
rapidly, — ^pillage, cruelty, brutal license, — the freebooters 



184 SPECIMEN OF morgan's WEAPONS. 

giving themselves up to so mad a course of riot and de- 
bauchery that fifty resolute men might have cut them off 
and regained the town, had the panicstruck Spaniards 
been able to form any rational plan of action, or to muster 
a force. Dtiring these fifteen days of demoniac revel, 
interrupted only by torturing the prisoners to make them 
give up treasures which they did not possess, many of the 
Bucaniers died from the consequences of their own brutal 
excesses, and Morgan deemed it expedient to draw off his 
force. Information had by this time reached the Governor 
of Panama ; and though aid was distant from the mise- 
rable inhabitants of Porto Bello, it might still come. Mor- 
gan, therefore, carried off a good many of the guns, spiked 
the rest, fully supplied his ships with every necessary store, 
and having already plundered all that was possible, inso- 
lently demanded an exorbitant ransom for the preservation 
of the city and for his prisoners, and prepared to depart 
from the coast. These terms he even sent to the Governor 
of Panama, Avho was approaching the place, and whose 
force the Bucaniers intercepted in a narrow pass, and 
compelled to retreat. The inhabitants collected among 
themselves a hundred thousand pieces of eight, which 
Morgan graciously accepted, and retired to his ships. 

The astonishment of the Governor of Panama at so 
small a force carrying the town and the forts, and holding 
them so long, induced him, it is said, to send a message to 
the Bucanier leader, requesting a specimen of the arms 
which he used. Morgan received the messenger with 
civility, gave him a pistol and a few bullets, and ordered 
him to bid the president to accept of so slender a pattern 
of the weapons with which he had taken Porto Bello, and 
to keep it for a twelvemonth, at the end of which time he 
(Morgan) proposed to come to Panama to fetch it away. 
The governor returned the loan with a gold ring, and re- 
quested Morgan not to give himself the trouble of travelling 
so far, certifying to him that he would not fare so well as 
he had done at Porto Bello. 

On this subject Morgan formed and afterward acted 
upon his own opinions. In the mean while the spoils were 
divided at the Keys of Cuba. The booty amounted to 
250,000 pieces of eight, besides goods of all kinds, includ- 
ing silks, linen, clolh, and naany things that found a ready 



NEW BUCANIER EXPEDITION. 185 

market in Jamaica, for which Bucaniers' paradise the 
fleet next sailed, to fit themselves for a fresh expedition by 
a month's carousing, and the prodigal expenditure of the 
fruits of their toils and crimes. 

This brilliant exploit, in which so few men, and those 
armed only with pistols and sabres, had taken a large for- 
tified city, raised the character of Morgan as a commander 
higher than ever ; and his invitation to the Brethren of the 
Coast to meet him at the Isla de la Vaca, or Cow Island, 
which was appointed as a rendezvous preparatory to 
another cruise, was so eagerly accepted that he found him- 
self at the head of a considerable force, A large French 
bucaniering vessel, which refused to join this expedition, 
he obtained by fraud. Inviting the commander and several 
of the best men to dine with him, under some frivolous 
pretext he made them prisoners. But Morgan did not 
reap much advantage from this act of treachery. While 
the men whom he had placed in the ship were carousing, 
celebrating the commencement of another cruise, it sud- 
denly blew up, and three hundred and fifty Englishmen 
and the French prisoners perished together. This acci- 
dent, so disastrous to Morgan, was imputed to the revenge- 
ful spirit of the Frenchmen confined in the hold. The true 
character of the sordid Bucanier was never more strongly 
displayed than in the way which Morgan tried to make 
the best for himself of this mischance. When eight days 
of mourning had elapsed, he made the dead bodies be fished 
up, stripped of clothes, linen, and of the gold rings which 
Bucaniers often wore, and then be thrown back into the 
sea to feed the sharks. 

Morgan had now a fleet of fifteen ships, some of which 
he owed to the kindness of the Governor of Jamaica, who 
connived at, or took a share in, such adventures. His 
force consisted of 1000 fighting-men. Several of his ves- 
sels were armed, and his own carried fourteen guns. With 
these, which, however, through discontent, diminished a 
full half on the way, he shaped his course for the devoted 
cities of Gibraltar and Maracaibo, formerly visited by 
Lolonnois, which were once more taken and plundered. 
At the former place the cruelties of Morgan exceeded, if 
that were possible, the enormities of the French pirate. 
Such of the inhabitants as fled to the woods and were 
Q2 



186 GIBRALTAR MARACAIBO. 

retaken were tortured with fiendlike ingenuity to niake 
them discover their weahh. It would be painful and re* 
volting to dwell upon the black record of the atrocities per- 
petrated here. 

So much tim*; had been consumed at Gibraltai*, that Mor- 
gan, when about to withdraw, found himself in a Snarej 
from which it required all his talent and presence of mind 
to extricate the Buennier fleet. Coolness and readiness 
were, however, the familiar qualities of men whose lives 
were a seriies of perils and escapes, and whose natural ele- 
ment was danger ; and they never were more admirably 
displayed than by Morgan and his men at this time. 

In the interval spent by the Bucaniers in pillage and 
debauchery at Gibraltarj the Spaniards had repaired the fort 
which protected the passage of the lake or lagune of 
Maracaibo, and stationed three men of war at the entrance, 
whose vigilance it was conceived impossible the pirates 
could escape. These vessels carried, one twenty, another 
thirty, and the third forty guns. Putting a bold face upon 
his embarrassing situation, Morgan, with the audacity 
natural to him, and which was one of his instruments of 
success, sent a message to the Spanish admiral, demanding 
a ransom as the only condition on which the city could be 
preserved. To this insolent vaunt the Spaniard replied, 
that though the Bucanier commander had taken the castle 
from a set of cowards, it was now in a good state of de- 
fence ; and that he not only intended to dispute the egress 
from the lagune, but to pursue the pirates everywhere. If, 
however, they chose to give up the prisoners and the slaves 
they had taken, they would be permitted to pass forth un- 
molested. This reply v/as as usual submitted to a full coun- 
cil of Bucaniers, and at this assembly one of their num- 
ber suggested the stratagem by which Morgan in the first 
place destroyed the Spanish men of war. One of the 
Bucanier vebsels was prepared as a fireship, and at the 
same time was made to wear the appearance of a vessel 
teady for action. Logs were placed in rows on the decks, 
on which clothes, hats, and Montero caps were placed ; and 
these decoy- figures were also armed with swords and mus- 
itets. When this was done, the plat€, jewels, female pris- 
oners, and whatever was of most value to the Bucaniers, 
wear© placed in their large boats, each of which carried 



STRATAGEMS OF MORGAN. 187 

twelve armed men. These boats were to follow the fire* 
ship, which led the van ; an oath was exacted from each 
Bucanier of resistance to the last, and the refusal of 
quarter from the Spaniards ; and ample rewards were 
promised for valour and firmness. Next evening the fleet 
sailed, and about dusk came up with the Spanish ships 
riding at anchor in the ntiddle of the lagune. The Buc- 
anier vessels also anchored, resolved to await here the 
effect of their stratagem, and either to fight, escape, or 
perish. No attack was offered tliat night, and they lay in 
quiet till dawn, when the anchors were weighed, and they 
steered directly towards the Spanish ships, which advanced 
as if to meet them. The fireship, still in advance, with all 
her decoys of armed men as before, came up with the 
largest of the Spanish vessels and grappled to her, — then 
the deception was first discovered, but too late for escape. 
The conflagration commenced. The Spanish ship caught 
fire in tackling and timbers, and the forepart of her hull 
soon went down. The second Spanish vessel escaped 
under the guns of the castle, and was sunk by her own 
company as a fote preferable to falling a prey to the Buca- 
niers. The third vessel was taken. The crew of the 
burning ship endeavoured to escape to the shore, and all 
chose rather to perish in the sea than accept of the quarter 
offered by the pirates. The triumphant Bucaiiiers, with- 
out losing a moment, gave chase, and immediately landed, 
resolving forthwith to attempt the castle ; but as they were 
ill armed for such an assault, and the place was well fortified 
and manned, they desisted from the attempt, and returned 
to their ships, having lost in that day's work thirty men 
killed and many more wounded. 

Though the Spanish ships were destroyed, the castle 
still remained to be passed ; and the Spaniards had laboured 
all night in completing its defences. Morgan again had 
recourse to stratagem. All day long, in sight of the garri- 
son, he affected to be sending boats filled with men to a 
point of the shore concealed from view of the castle by 
trees. These men returned on board lying flat in the boats, 
where, in going back, only the rowers were visible. They 
mounted their ships at a side on which the Spaniards could 
not perceive th6ir return. This manceuvre was repeated, 
till the Spaniards believed that from the number of men 



188 NEW BUCANIER EXPEDITION. 

landed an attack upon the castle was meditated. This 
seemed the more probable, as Morgan, who had now hoisted 
his flag in their captured war-ship, again sent a message 
demanding a ransom for Maracaibo as the condition of his 
departure. To meet the presumed movement of the Buc- 
aniers, the guns of the castle were changed from a posi- 
tion which commanded the lagune, and pointed to landward. 
As soon as he was aware of this arrangement, Morgan 
raised his anchors by moonlight, and favoured by the ebb 
tide, the wind also being favourable, pressed past the 
castle ; the mortified Spaniards trying in vain to hasten 
back with their pieces to bear upon him. He gave them a 
parting volley from his great guns, so lately their own ; 
and bore away for Jamaica, exulting in good fortune, 
enhanced likewise by what he learned of the misadventures 
of those who had forsaken him in the early part of the 
cruise. 

Money and credit were, as usual, quickly outrun in the 
taverns of Port Royal by the dissolute companions of Mor- 
gan ; and another expedition was concerted, which was to 
exceed all the former achievements of the sea-rovers. And 
no time was to be lost, as a pending treaty between Great 
Britain and Spain threatened for ever to put an end to what 
their admiring countrymen termed the " unparalleled ex- 
ploits of the Bucaniers." Letters were despatched by 
the commander to every noted Bucanier, and the south 
side of the island of Tortuga was named as the rendezvous. 
Early in October, 1670, Morgan found himself surrounded 
by pirates, hunters, cultivators, English, French, and 
Dutch, who, from land and sea, the plantation and the wil- 
derness, had flocked to the standard of him who was to 
lead them to fortune and victory. The first duty was to 
victual the fleet, and this was done by pillaging the hog- 
yards, and with the boucan sent in by hunters who either 
joined in the expedition or traded with the pirates. The 
Bucanier fleet, consisting of thirty-seven vessels fully 
provisioned, next sailed for Cape Tiburon, on the west 
coast of Hispaniola,— -the fighting-men amounting to 2000. 
At the general council now held, three places of^attack were 
deliberated upon, — Vera Cruz, Carthagena, and Panama. 
The last and most difficult was that which was chosen, 
recommended by the extravagant notions entertained in 



STORMING OF THE CASTLE OF CHAGRE. 189 

Europe and the "West Indies of its amazing wealth, and of 
the great riches of Peru. 

Morgan had never renounr;ed the idea, which originated 
with Mansvelt, of a Bucanier settlement on the conve- 
niently-situated island of Providence. Once more it was 
captured on his way, the Spanish governor making a farce 
of resistance. From this point Morgan detached a force of 
400 men to attack the castle of Chagre, the possession of 
which he judged necessary to the success of his future opera- 
tions against Panama. It was eventually carried by the 
accident of fire communicating with the powder-magazine, 
which blew up part of the defences.* 

While the Spaniards were occupied in suppressing the 
conflagration, the Bucaniers laboured hard to increase the 
confusion, by setting fire to the palisadoes in several places. 
At last they eftected a breach, in defiance of the liquid com- 
bustibles which the Spaniards poured down among them, 
and which occasioned considerable loss of their numbers. 
But the attack and resistance were still continued through- 
out the whole night, the Bucaniers directing an incessant 
fire towards the breaches, which the Spanish governor per- 
tinaciously defended. 

By noon the next day the Bucaniers had gained a breach, 
which was defended by the governor himself and twenty- 
five soldiers. The Spanish soldiers fought with desperate 
valour, despair lending theni supernatural courage ; !)ut 
nothing could resist the impetuosity of the pirates ; they 
burst their way through every obstacle, and the unfortunate 
Spaniards who survived, preferring death to the dishonour 
of either falling into the hands of these infuriated ruffians 
or of begging quarter, precipitated themselves into the sea. 
The governor had retired into the corps du garde, before 
which he planted two pieces of cannon, and bravely main- 
tained the hopeless and unequal conflict till he fell by a 

* The manner in which the fire was imagined to be communicated is 
not a little singular. A Bucanier was pierced through by an arrow 
from the fort. He drew it forth from his body, wound a liltle cotton 
round it, and shoe it from his musket against the castle. The cotton kin* 
died by the powder set fire to the palm-leaf roof's of some sheds within 
the caslle, and the flame caught at the gunpowder, which produced the 
breach in the walls. At the same instant the Bucaniers set lire to the 

Ealisadoes : the Spaniards, though unwavering in courage and undaunted 
I resolution, became distracted in the midst of so many dangers. 



190 MARCH TO PANAMA. 

musket-shot, which entered the brain. Of the garrison of 
314 men only thirty remained alive, and of these few twenty- 
were wounded. Not a single officer escaped. 

From the survivors of the siege the Bucanier party 
learned that the Governor of Panama was already apprized 
of their design against that place, that all along the course 
of the Chagre ambuscades were laid, and that a force of 
3600 men awaited their arrival. But this did not deter 
Morgan, who pressed forward for Chagre the instant that 
he received intelligence of the capture of the castle, carry- 
ing with him all the provisions that could be obtained in 
Santa Katalina, to which island he intended to return after 
the capture of Panama. 

The English colours flying upon the castle of Chagre 
was a sight of joy to the main body of the Bucaniers upon 
their arrival. Morgan was admitted within the fort by the 
triumphant advanced troop with all the honours of conquest. 
Before his arrival, the wounded, the widows of the soldiera 
killed in the siege, and the other women of the place, had 
been shut up in th^ church, and subjected to the most 
brutal treatment. To their fate Morgan was entirely cal- 
lous ; but he lost no time in setting the prisoners to work 
in repairing the defences and forming new palisadoes ; he 
also seized all the craft in the river, many of which carried 
from two to four small pieces. 

These arrangements concluded, Morgan left a garrison 
of 500 men in his castle of Chagre, and in the ships 150 ; 
while at the head of 1200 Bucaniers, he, on the 18th Janu- 
ary, 1671, commenced his inland voyage to Panama, in- 
different about or determined to brave the Spanish ambus- 
cades. His artillery was carried by five large boats, and 
tliirty-two canoes were filled with part of the men. Anxious 
to push forward, Morgan committed one capital blunder in 
carrying almost no provisions, calculating upon a shorter 
period being consumed on the march than it actually re- 
quired, and on foraging upon the Spaniards. Even on the 
first day their provisions failed, and on the second they were 
compelled to leave the canoes, the lowness of the river and 
the fallen trees lying across it making this mode of travel- 
ling tedious and nearly impracticable. Their progress was 
now continued by land and water alternately, and was 
attended with great inconvenience, the extremity of famine 
being of the number of their hardships. Their best hopes 



HARDSHIPS OP THE JOURNEY. 191 

were now placed in falling in with the threatened ambus- 
cades, as there they might find a store of provisions. So 
extremely were they pinched with hunger, that the leathern 
bags found at a deserted Spanish station formed a delicious 
meal. About this delicacy they even quarrelled, and it is 
said openly regretted that no Spaniards were found, as, 
failing provisions, they had resolved to have roasted or 
boiled a few of the enemy to satisfy their ravening ap- 
petites. 

Throughout the whole track to Panama the Spaniards 
had taken care not to leave the smallest quantity of pro- 
visions, and any other soldiers than the Bucaniers must 
have perished long before even a distant view was obtained 
of the city ; but their powers of endurance, from their 
hardy modes of life, were become almost superhuman. At 
nightfall, when they reached their halting-place, "happy 
was he who had reserved since morn any small piece of 
leather whereof to make his supper, drinking after it a 
good draught of water for his greatest comfort." Their 
mode of preparing this tough meal deserves to be noticed. 
The skins were first sliced, then alternately dipped in water 
and beat between two stones to render them tender ; — ■ 
l-astly, the remaining hair was scraped off, and the morsel 
broiled, cut into small bits, and deliberately chewed, with 
frequent mouthfuls of water to eke out and lengthen the 
repast. 

On the fifth day, at another deserted ambuscade, a little 
maize was found, and also some wheat, wine, and plantains. 
This, scanty as it was, proved a seasonable supply to those 
who drooped, and it was thriftily dealt out among them. 
Next day a barn full of maize was discovered, which, beat- 
ing down the door, the famished Bucaniers rushed upon 
and devoured without any preparation. Yet all this hard- 
ship could not turn them aside from the scent of prey^ 
though symptoms of discontent became visible in their 
ranks. At a village called Cruz, perceiving from a distance 
a great smoke, they joyfully promised themselves rest and 
refreshments ; but on reaching it found no inhabitant, and 
every house either burnt down or in flames, so determined 
were the Spaniards to oppose the onward march of the 
terrible beings, presented to their imaginations under every 
shape of horror. The only animals remaining, the dogs 



192 THE SOUTH SEA DESCRIED. 

and cats of the villatre, fell an immediate sacrifice to the 
wolfish hunger of the Bucaniers. 

Morgan had now some difficulty in preserving discipline, 
and in keeping his companions or followers from falling 
into the hands of the Spaniards or Indians when straggling 
about in search of any thing they could devour. In this 
way one man was lost. 

They were now within eight leagues of Panama, and 
the nearer they approached, the more anxious and vigilant 
was Morgan in looking out for the threatened ambuscade.<i 
of the enemy, who, lie naturally conjectured, might have re- 
tired to consolidate his forces. On the eighth day, they were 
surprised by a shower of Indian arrows poured upon them 
from some unseen quarter, and advancing into the woods, 
maintained a sharp short contest with a party of Indians, 
many of whom fell, offering a brave though vain resistance. 
Ten of the freebooters were kUled in this skirmish. The 
Bucaniers, who had already three Indian guides, run- 
aways found in Santa Katalina, endeavoured at this place 
to make some prisoners for the purpose of procuring intel- 
ligence ; but the Indians were too swift of foot. 

After another twenty-four hours of suffering, under which 
only freebooters or Indians could have borne up, on the 
morning of the ninth day of the inarch, from a high moun- 
tain, the majestic South Sea was joyfully descried, with 
ships and boats sailing upon its bosom, and peacefully set- 
ting out from the concealed port of Panama. Herds of 
cattle, horses, and asses, feeding in the valley below the 
eminence on which they stood, formed a sight not less 
welcome. They rushed to the feast; and, cutting up the 
animals, devoured their flesh half-raw, "more resembling 
cannibals than Europeans at this banquet, the blood many 
times running down from their beards unto the middle of 
their bodies." 

This savage meal being ended the journey was resumed, 
Morgan still endeavouring *o g.iin information by taking 
prisoners, as on his whole line of march he had obtained 
speech of neither Spaniard nor Indian. 

In the same evening the steeple of Panama was beheld 
at a distance ; and, forgettiriij all their sufferings, the Buc- 
aniers gave way to the most rapturous exultation, tossing 
their caps into the air, leaping, shouting, beating their 



BATTLE WITH THE SPANIARDS. 193 

dmms, and sounding their trumpets at the sight of so glo« 
rious a plunder, and as if victory were already consum- 
mated. They encamped for the night near the city, in- 
tending to make the assault early in the morning. The 
same night a party of fifty Spanish horsemen came out 
as if to reconnoitre, advanced within musket-shot of the 
pirates, scornfully challenged " the dogs" to come on, and 
then retired, leaving six or eight of their number to watch 
the enemy's motions. Upon this the great guns of the 
town began to play on the camp, but were too distant, or 
in directed, to do any execution ; and instead of betraying 
alarm, the Bucaniors, having placed sentinels around their 
camp, made another voracious meal preparatory to the 
next day's business, throw themselves upon the grass, and, 
lulled by the Spanish artillery, slept soundly till the dawn. 
The camp was astir betimes, and the men being mustered 
and arrayed, with drums and trumpets sounding they ad- 
vanced towards the city ; but instead of taking the ordinary 
route, which the Spaniards were prepared to defend, by 
the advice of one of the Indian guides they struck through 
a wood, by a tangled and difficult path, in which, however^ 
immediate obstruction could not be apprehended. Before 
the Spaniards could counteract this unexpected movement, 
the Eucaniers had advanced some way. The Governor 
of Panama, who led the forces, commanded 200 cavalry 
and four regiments of infantry ; and a number of Indian 
auxiliaries conducted an immense herd of wild bulls, to be 
driven among the ranks of the Bucaniers, and which were 
expe-^ted to throw them into disorder. This extraordinary 
arm of war was viewed by the hunters of Hispaniola and 
Campeachy with indifference ; but they were somewhat 
alarmed at the regular and imposing array of the troops 
drawn up to receive them. It was, however, too late to 
retreat. They divided into three detachments, two hundred 
dexterous marksmen leading the advance. They now 
stood on the top of a little eminence, whence the whole 
Spanish force, the city, and the champaign country around 
were distinctly seen. As they moved downward the 
Spanish cavalry, shouting Viva el Rcy^ immediately ad- 
vanced to meet them ; hut the ground happened to be soft 
and marshy, which greatly obstructed the manceuvres of 
the horsemen. The advance of the Bucaniers, all picked 
R 



194 VICTORY OF THE BTJCANIERS. 

marksmen, knelt and received them with a volley, and the 
conflict instantly became close and hot. The Bucaniers, 
throwuig themselves between the Spanish horse and foot, 
succeeded in separating them, and the wild bulls, taking 
fright from the tumult and the noise of the guns, ran away, 
or were shot by the Bucaniers before they could eilect 
any mischief. 

After a contest of two hours the Spanish cavalry gave 
way. Many were killed, and the rest fled ; which the 
foot-soldiers perceiving, fired their last charge, threw down 
their muskets, and followed the example of the cavaliers. 
Some of them took refuge in the adjoining thickets ; and 
though the Bucaniers did not continue the pursuit, they 
took a savage pleasure in shooting without mercy all who 
accidentally fell into their hands. In this way several 
priests and friars who were made prisoners were pistolled 
by the orders of Morgan. A Spanish officer who was made 
prisoner gave the Bucaniers minute intelligence of the force 
of the enemy and the plan of defence, which enabled them 
to approach the town from the safest point ; but the ad^ 
vance was still attended with difficulty. 

After the rout which had taken place in the open field, and 
the slaughter A|hich followed, the Bucaniers rested for a 
little space, and during this pause solemnly plighted their 
honour, by oaths to each other, never to yield while a single 
man remained alive. This done, carrying their prisoners 
with them, they advanced upon the great guns planted in 
the streets and the hasty defences thrown up to repel them. 
In this reiiewed assault the Bucaniers suffered severely 
before they could make good those close quarters in which 
they ever maintained a decided superiority in fighting. Still 
they resolutely advanced to the final grapple, the Spaniards 
keeping up an incessant fire. The town was gained after 
a desperate conflict of three hours maintained in its open 
streets. 

In this assault the Bucaniers neither gave nor accepted 
quarter, and the carnage on both sides was great. Six 
hundred Spaniards fell on that day, nor was the number of 
the Bucaniers who perished much less ; but to those who 
survived a double share of plunder was at all times ample 
consolation for the loss of companions whose services were 
no longer required in its acquisition. The city was no 



CONFLAGRATION OF PANAMA. 195 

sooner gained than Morgan, who saw the temper of the in- 
habitants in the obstinate nature of the resistance they had 
offered, and who well knew the besetting sins of his follow- 
ers, prudently prohibited them from tasting wine ; and 
aware that such an order would be very little regarded were 
it enforced by nothing save a simple command, he affirmed 
that he had received private intelligence that all the wine 
had been poisoned. They were therefore enjoined not to 
touch it under the dread of poisoning and the penalties of 
discipline. Neither of these motives were sufficient to en- 
force rigid abstinence among the Bucaniers, though they 
operated till indulgence became more safe. 

As soon as possession of the city was gained guards 
were placed, and at the same time fires broke out simulta- 
neously in different quarters, which were attributed by the 
Spaniards to the pirates, and by them to the inhabitants. 
Both assisted in endeavouring to extinguish the dreadful 
conflagration, which raged with fury ; but the houses, being 
built of cedar, caught the flames like tinder, and were con- 
sumed in a very short time. The inhabitants had previously 
removed or concealed the most valuable part of their goods 
and furniture. 

The city of Panama consisted of about 12,000 houses, 
many of them large and magnificent. It contained also 
eight monasteries and two churches, all richly furnished. 
The concealment of the church-plate drew upon the eccle- 
siastics the peculiar vengeance of the lieretical Bucaniers, 
who, however, spared no one. The conflagration which 
they could not arrest they seemed at last to take a savage 
delight in spreading. A slave factory belonging to the Ge- 
noese was burnt to the ground, together with many ware- 
houses stored with meal. Many of the miserable Africans 
whom the Genoese brought for sale to Peru perished in the 
flames, which raged or smouldered for nearly four weeks. 

For some time the Bucaniers, afraid of being surprised 
and overpowered by the Spaniards, who still reckoned ten 
for one of their numbers, encamped without the town. 
Morgan had also weakened his force by sending a hundred 
and fifty men back to Chagre with news of his victory. Yet 
by this handful of men the panic-struck Spaniards were 
held in check and subjection while the Bucaniers either 
raged like demons through the burning town or prowled 



195 PLUNDER OF THE CITY. 

among the ruins and ashes in search of plate and other 
valuable articles. 

The property which the Spaniards had concealed in deep 
wells and cisterns was nearly all discovered, and the most 
active of the Bucaniers were sent out to the woods and 
heights to search for and drive back the miserable inhabit- 
ants who had fled from the city with their effects. In two 
days they brought in about two hundred of the fugitives as 
prisoners. Of those unhappy persons many were females, 
who found the merciless Bucaniers no better than their fears 
had painted them.* 

In plundering the land Morgan had not neglected the sea. 
By sea many of the principal inhabitants had escaped, and 
a boat was immediately sent in pursuit, which brought in 
three prizes ; though a galleon, in which was embarked all 
the plate and jewels belonging to the King of Spain and the 
wealth of the principal nunnery of the town, escaped, from 
the Bucaniers indulging in a brutal revel in their own bark 
till it was too late to follow and capture the ship. The pur- 
suit was afterward continued for four days, at the end of 
which the Bucaniers returned to Panama with another prize, 
worth 20,000 pieces of eight in goods, from Paita. 

* The Spanish colonists of South America had a twofold reason for 
detesting tlie Bucaniers. Tiiey were English heretics as well as lawless 
miscreants, capable of the foulest crinnes; and it is not easy to say 
whether in the idea of the indolent, uninstnicted, priestridden inhabitants 
of Panama, Porto Bello, and Cartliagena they were not as hateful and 
alarming in the first chara;'.ter as in the last. A Spanish lady, one of 
his prisoners, with whom Morgan the Bucanier commander fell in love, 
is described as believing, till she saw them, that the freebooters were not 
men, hut some sort of monsters named heretics, " who did neither invoke 
the blessed Trinity, nor believe in .lesus Christ." The civilities of Cap- 
tai!) Morgan inclined her to better fhou'ihts of his faith and Christianity, 
especially as she heard him frequently swear by ihe sacred name's. 
" Neither did she now think them to be so bad, or to have the shapes of 
beasts, as from the relations of sevej-al people she had heard oftentimes. 
For as to the name of robbers or thieves which was commonly given them 
by others, she wondered not much at it, seeing, as she said, that among all 
nations of the universe there be found wicked men who covet the goods 
of others." It is clear that the heretic was as great a curiosity, if not a 
more truculent monster Ihan the Bucanier. Another lady of Panama 
was very curious to see the extraordinary animals called Bucaniers, and 
the first time she had that happiness exclaimed aioud, ".lesu bless me ! 
thase thieves are like unto us Spaniards." About a century before the 
storming of Panama one powerful reason with the Spaniards for [tre- 
,venting the English from passing the Straits of Magellan was, to pre- 
serve the natives of the newly-discovered islands of the Pacific " from 
the veiiom of their heresi'." 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE BUCANIERS. 197 

Meanwhile^ on the opposite coast, the ships* companies 
left at Chagre were exercising their vocation, and had cap- 
tured one large Spanish vessel, which, unaware of the 
hands into which the castle had fallen, ran in under it for 
protection. 

While the Bucaniers were thus employed at sea, and at 
Panama and Chagre, parties continued to scour the sur- 
rounding country, taking in turn the congenial duty of foray- 
ing and bringing in booty and prisoners, on whom they ex- 
ercised the most atrocious cruelties, unscrupulously em- 
ploying the rack, and sparing neither age, sex, nor condition. 
Religious persons were the subjects of the most refined 
barbarity, as they were believed to direct and influence the 
rest of the inhabitants, both in their first resistance and in 
the subsequent concealment of property. During the per- 
petration of these outrages, Morgan, as has been noticed, 
fell in love with a beautiful Spanish woman, his prisoner, 
and the wife of one of the principal merchants. She re- 
jected his infamous addresses with firmness and spirit ; and 
the Bucanier commander, alike a rulfian in his love and 
hate, used her with severity that disgusted even those of his 
own gang who had not thrown aside every feeling of man- 
hood ; and he was fain to charge his fair prisoner with 
treachery to excuse the baseness of the treatment she re- 
ceived by his orders. This alleged treachery consisted in 
corresponding with her countrymen, and endeavouring to 
effect her escape. 

In the mean while a plan had entered the minds of a party 
of the Bucaniers which did not suit the views nor meet the 
approbation of their leader. - They had resolved to seize a 
ship in the port, cruise upon the South Sea on their own 
account till satiated with booty, and then either establish 
themselves on some island, or return to Europe by the East 
Indies. Captain Morgan could neither spare equipments 
nor men for this project, of which he received private in- 
formation. He immediately ordered the mainmast of the 
ship to be cut down and burnt, together with every other 
vessel in the port, thus eflfectually preventing desertion on 
this side of America. The arms, ammunition, and stores 
secretly collected for this bold cruise on the South Sea were 
applied to other purposes. 

Kothing more was to he wrung forth from Panama, 
R2 



198 THE CAPTIVES OF THE BUCANIERS. 

which, after a destructive sojonrn of four weeks, Morgan' 
resolved to leave. Beasts of burden were therefore collected 
from all quart(-ns to convey the spoils to the opposite coast. 
The cannon were spiked, and scouts sent out to learn what 
measures had been taken by the Governor of Panama to 
intercept the return to Chagre. The Spaniards were too 
much depressed to have made any preparation either to an- 
noy or cut off the retreat of their inveterate enemies ; and 
on the 24th February the Bucaniers, apprehensive of no op- 
position, left the ruins of Panama with a hundred and sev- 
enty-five mules laden with their spoils and above six hundred 
prisoners, including women, children, and slaves. The 
misery of these wretched captives, driven on in the midst 
of the armed Bucaniers, exceeds description. They be- 
lieved that they were all to be carried to Jamaica, England, 
or some equally wild, distant, and savage country, to be 
sold for slaves ; and the cruel craft of Morgan heightened 
these fears, the more readily to extort the ransom he de- 
manded for the freedom of his unhappy prisoners. In vaiu 
the women threw themselves at his feet supplicating for the 
mercy of being allowed to remain amid the ruins of their 
former homes, or in the woods in huts with their husbands 
and children. His answer was, " that he came not here to 
listen to cries and lamentations, but to get money, which 
unless he obtained he would assuredly carry them all where 
they would little like to go." Three days were granted, ia 
which they might avail themselves of the conditions of ran- 
som. Several were happy enough to be able to redeem 
themselves, or were rescued by the contributions sent in ; 
and with the remaining captives the pirates pushed onward, 
making new prisoners and gathering fresh spoils on their way. 
The conduct of Morgan at this time disproves many of 
the extravagant notions propagated about the high honour 
of the Bucaniers in their dealings with each other. Halting 
at a convenient place for his purpose, in the midst of the 
wilderness, and about half-way to Chagre, he drew up his 
comrades, and insisted that, besides taking an oath declaring 
that all plunder had been surrendered to the common stock, 
each man should be searched, he himself submitting in the 
first place to the degrading scrutiny, though it was sus- 
pected that the leading motive of the whole mancEUvrewas 
the de^re of concealing his own peculation and fraudulent 



MORGAN STEALS AWAY. 199 

dealing with his associates. The French Bucaniers who 
accompanied the expedition were indignant at treatment so 
much at variance with the maxims and usages of the gen- 
tlemen rovers ; but being the weaker party they were com- 
pelled to submit. 

I'he Bucaniers and their prisoners performed the remain- 
der of the journey by water; and when arrived at Chagre, 
Morgan, who knew not liow to dispose of his unredeemed 
prisoners, shipped them all off for Porto Bello, making ibera 
the bearers of his demand of ransom from the governor of 
that city for the castle of Chagre. To this insolent message 
the Governor of Porto Bello replied, that Morgan might make 
of the castle what he pleased ; not a ducat should be given 
for its ransom. 

There was thus no immediate prospect of any more plun- 
der in this quarter, and nothing remained to be done but to 
divide the spoils already acquired. The individual shares 
fell so far short of the expectations of the Bucaniers that 
they openly grumbled, and accused their chief of the worst 
crime of which in their eyes he could be guilty, — secreting 
the richest of the jewels for himself. Two hundred pieces 
of eight each man was thought a very small return for the 
plunder of so wealthy a city, and a very trifling reward for 
the toil and danger that had been undergone in assaulting 
it. Matters were assuming so serious an aspect among the 
fraternity that Morgan, who knew the temper of his friendsy 
deemed it advisable to steal away with what he had ob- 
tained. He immediately made the walls of Chagre be de- 
stroyed, carried the guns on board his own ship, and, fol- 
lowed by one or two vessels commanded by persons in his 
confidence, sailed for Jamaica, leaving his enraged asso- 
ciates in want of every necessary. Those who followed 
him were all Englishmen, who, as the French Bucaniers 
fully believed, connived at the frauds and shared in the gains 
of Morgan. They would instantly have pursued him to sea, 
and the Spaniards might have enjoyed the satisfaction of 
seeing the Bucanier fleet divided and fighting against itself, 
had they with a force so much weaker, dared to venture so 
unequal an encounter. The vessels deserted by Morgan 
separated here, and the companies sought their fortunes in 
different quarters, none of them much the richer for the 
misery and devastation they h^d carried to Panama. 



200 PROCLAMATION OF THE GOVERNOR. 

Morgan, on arriving at Jamaica laden with plunder, and 
exulting in his late exploit, endeavoured once more to levy 
recruits for the independent state he still longed to establish 
at Santa Katalina, and of which he himself, already admiral 
and generalissimo of the Bucaniers, was to be the prince or 
governor. But circumstances were still unfavourable. 
Lord John Vaughan, the newly-appointed Governor of Ja- 
maica, had orders strictly to enforce the treaty with Spain 
formed in the previous year, but to proclaim pardon and in- 
demnity, and offer a grant of lands to such of the Bucaniers 
as chose to become peaceful cultivators, future depreda- 
tions on the trade or settlements of Spain were forbidden 
by the royal proclamation, and under severe penalties. But 
it was not a proclamation, however strongly worded, that 
could at once tame down the lawless Bucanier into a planter, 
or confine to thirty-seven acres of ground him who had for 
years freely roamed through sea and land, with his sword 
reaping his harvest wherever men of greater industry had 
sown it. To adopting the habits of peaceful life many of 
the English Bucaniers preferred joining the Flibustiers at 
Tortuga, or becoming logwood-cutters in the Bay of Cam- 
peachy ; and, luckily for the remainder, in the next year a 
■war broke out between Great Britain and Holland, which 
enabled some of them to follow their old vocation as pri- 
vateers ; Bucaniers and Flibustiers alike exercising their 
industry for a short time against the Dutch instead of their 
old enemies the Spaniards. 

Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be proper 
to notice the conclusion of the adventures of the notorious 
Morgan. In the year which elapsed between the plunder 
of Panama and 1680, he had sufficient address and interest, 
or, more probably, skill in the appliance of his ill-gotten 
wealth, to obtain from Charles II. the honour of knight- 
hood, and afterward to be appointed deputy-governor of 
Jamaica. Though it was believed that he still secretly 
shared in the plundering adventures of the Bucaniers, 
Morgan treated many of his old comrades with very great 
severity. Several of them were hanged under his admin- 
istration, and others he delivered up to the Spaniards at 
CJarthagena, as was believed, for the price of blood ; nor 
"does the character of Morgan make this suspicion improb- 
able. The strict justice and severity exercised by the 



BUCANIER EXPLOITS AT VERA CRUZ. 201 

deputy-governor on his old friends and countrymen did 
not, however, dispose the Spaniards to unlimited confidence 
in Morgan ; and suspecting him of secretly favouring the 
Bucaniers, who hud once more increased, they were able, 
after the accession of James II., to get him removed from 
his office and committed for a time to prison in England. 

The same unwise restrictions and troublesome inter- 
ference with the cultivation and commerce of the colonies 
which had encouraged the system of bucaniering in its com- 
mencement fostered it once more, though France, instead 
of Spain, was become the agent in this mistaken policy. — 
The regulations adopted by the government of France for 
the West India trade, and the pnrti:d and oppressive ad- 
ministration of colonial affiiirs, tended more than any other 
circumstance to recruit the ranks of the freebooters, — men, 
disturbed in their peaceful industry by vexatious and 
annoying prohibitions and monopolies, readily placing 
themselves beyond the law, which was more their torment 
than protection. Thus, though the freebooters were at 
length crushed by the express prohibitions of their several 
countries, they were incited by causes more powerful, origi- 
nating in the same source. 

In 1683, the Bucaniers, led by three noted chiefs. Van 
Horn, Grammont, and Laurent de Graff, by a stratagem 
took the city of Vera Cruz in the Gulf of Mexico. Many 
of the English Bucaniers were engaged in this expedition, 
though none of them held high command. This was 
reckoned the most brilliant exploit that had yet been achieved 
by the Flibustiers. Their mode of attack was similar to 
that which had been practised by Drake a century before. 
In the darkness of niorht a sufficient force was landed, which 
marched three leagues over land, and before dawn surprised 
and captured the city. The inhabitants were shut up in 
the churches, the usual prison of the Bucaniers, at the 
door of each of which barrels of gunpowder were placed, 
and sentinels beside them, holding a lighted match, ready 
to produce an explosion at a moment's notice, or on the 
slightest symptom of revolt. 'I"he city was thus pillaged 
without molestation from the inhaliitants ; and the famished 
prisoners in the churches were afterward glad to purchai.e 
their freedom on any terms their conquerors chose to dic- 
tate. Ten millions of livres were demanded as a ransom. 



202 THE BUCANIERS TURN 

and the half of it had been raised and paid in, when the 
appearance of a body of troops and a fleet of seventeen 
ships caused the freebooters to make a precipitate but 
well-ordered retreat, carrying off 1500 slaves. Loaded 
with their booty and prisoners, they boldly sailed through 
the fleet sent to attack them, which did not venture to fire 
a single gun. They might probably have roused the 
Spaniards from their fear or lethargy by an assault, had 
they not been more careful to preserve the plunder they 
had obtained than desirous of a barren naval victory over 
ships carrying no cargoes. 

Fortunately for the freedom and repose of the Spanish 
colonists, no Bucanier corps ever agreed, or acted in har- 
mony, for any length of time. Their lawless unions fell to 
pieces even more rapidly than they were formed ; and those 
of the French and English seldom adhered even to the con- 
clusion of a joint expedition. On the present occasion 
they separated in wrath, the Frenchmen employing the 
pretext of the quarrel they artfully fomented to with- 
hold the Englishmen's share of the pillage. The latter 
cruises of the Bucaniers were in few respects distinguished 
by the honour and integrity among themselves which were 
said to havrt marked their first exploits. The French Fli- 
bustier now sought but a shallow excuse to plunder the Eng- 
lish Bucanier, who, on the other side, lost no opportunity 
of retaliation. 

The tardy though now earnest efforts of France and 
Britain to crush the brethren of the coast, the increasing 
military and maritime strength of the Spanish colonists, 
and above all a field too narrow and exhausted for the nu- 
merous labourers, together with wild and magnificent ideas 
of the wealth of Peru, were so many powerful motives 
urging the Bucaniers, whether French or English, upon en- 
terprises in a new and wider region. Among them an esti- 
mate was formed of the riches of the western shores, from 
the single circumstance, that in a few years after the visit of 
Morgan, a new city of Panama had arisen, which in splen- 
dour and wealth eclipsed the desolated town. The Peruvian 
coast and the South Sea, in all their riches and extent, 
presented a field which neither the long arm of France nor 
the powerful hand of England could reach ; and of the 
opposition .to be feared from the indolent and effeminate 



THEIR THOUGHTS TO PERIT. 20^ 

inhabitants the expedition of Morgan had afforded a veiy 
satisfactory specimen. In the new design of crossing the 
continent, and searching for untried regions of conquest and 
spoUation, the Bucaniers were rather urged by personal 
motives of rapacity, and the desire of escaping from the 
qolonial officials of the West India islands — who latterly 
either shared their booty or treated them with great severity, 
and not unfrequently did both — than influenced by any 
enlightened or comprehensive plan of operations. The 
wealth of this new region and the ease with which it 
might be acquired were primary reasons ; personal security 
was merely secondary ; and beyond these motives this 
chaotic banditti never once looked ; all their ideas of con- 
quest being limited to the plunder ot a city or a ship, to 
plate, silks, and pieces of eight ; nor were their enjoyments 
and pleasures of a more liberal or elevated kind. We may 
therefore without much regret here close this general sketch 
of the Bucaniers. All that is interesting in their subse- 
quent career, from the plundering of Vera Cruz in the Bay 
of Mexico to their decay and suppression, is closely in- 
terwoven with the personal adventures of Dampier, on 
which we are now to enter. And in the narrative of this 
remarkable navigator, instead of monotonous details of 
fraud, rapacity, and cruelty, on which it has been painful 
to linger, the reader is gratified with the researches and 
discoveries of natural science, and with pictures of life and 
manners, curious, novel, and attractive, which have never 
yet, among the multitude of succeeding European naviga- 
tors, fallen under the notice of a more acute and accurate 
observer, or obtained a delineator more faithful and lively^ 
and occasionally more glowing and poetical, than the ex- 
traordinary man whose history we are now to follow, com- 
mencing with his early wanderings among the Bucaniers. 



^04 ANCESTRY OF DAMPIEll* 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Adventures among the Wood-cutters and Bucanierst 

Ancestry and Education of Pampier— His Voyajre to India— Goes W 
Jainaica as a Planter— Becomes a Logwood-cutter in Campeachy— 
Habits of the Wood-cutters— Appearance of i fie Country— Its Nat liral 
Productions— The Wild Pine- Snakes— Ants— 'J'he ilurnminji-bird-^ 
Ailiiiators- Danipier loses himself in the Woods— Copartnership witlt 
three Scotchmen — Dreadful Hnrricatie in the Bay— Its Consequences 
—Beef Island— The Indians-John il'Acosta- Mode of liocksing Cattle 
— Datnpier joins the Bucaniers — The Manatee, or Sea-cow — The 
River Tobasco— Indians under the Spanish Priests— Their Manners 
and Condition— Aliack of Alvarado— Escape of the Bucaniers froiff 
the Spanish -'rmadilloes— JifM^yacA—Danipier rejoins the Logwood- 
cutters— Returns to England. 

To Captain Dampier himself the world is indebted for the 
only record of his early history which can he considered 
authentic. He was born about 1652, at East Coker, near 
Yeovil, a considerable market-town in Somersetshire. His 
father was probably a fanner ; and we learn incidentally 
that his mother, when a widow, along with whatever other 
property she might possess, held the lease of a small farm 
at East Coker from Colonel Hellier, the lord of the manor. 
The small farms in this parish were held for lives, and va- 
ried in rent from 20/. to 50/. By a singular, but then prob* 
ably a common arrangement, each occupier had a patch of 
land of every different kind of soil, lying apart or scattered 
throughout the parish, as black-loam, clayeyj and sandy 
ground, which varied in rent from forty, thirty, and twenty 
shillings an acre, down to ten groats for the poorest. On 
these scattered patches every yeoman raised wheat, oatSy 
barley, beans, rye,* hemp, and flax, for the consutnption of 
his own family. The statistics of, East Coker afford a cu- 
rious picture of English agriculture, and of that race of 
primitive cultivators who have long since disappeared, and 
will ever be regretted. 

* Dampier, in the early edition of his work which lies before us, says 
rice : but this is probably a slip of the pen of one who was now more 
fiuniliar witU this foreign grain than with the rye of bis childhood. 



TOYAGE TO INDIA. 205 

Before the death of his parents, which happened while he 
was very young, Dainpier had begun to receive the elements 
of a classical education ; but on this event taking place his 
studies were suspended, and he was sent to acquire writing 
and arithmetic, to qualify him for some humbler employment 
than might have been originally designed ; and in a short 
time after the death of his mother he was placed with a 
shipmaster belonging to VYeymouth. Slender as his ad- 
vantages of early education appear to have been, he profited 
so largely by them as to afford one more proof that the best 
part of a man's learning is that which he acquires by himself. 

William Dampier's first voyage was to France, his next 
to ]Vewfoundland, in which he suffered so severely from the 
climate, that he almost resolved against returning to sea ; 
but this determination was commuted into a resolution not 
to try the same ungenial quarter. Dampier, now about 
eighteen, was already animated by the restless activity, the 
curiosity, love of vicissitude, adventure, and peril, which 
form the strong and marking characteristics of the youth 
who is born a seaman. " The ofler," he says, " of a long 
voyage and a z^a?mone soon carried me to sea again." He 
entered as a foremast-man on board the Martha East India- 
man, which sfiled direct from London to Bantam ; from 
whence, after a stay of two months, he returned within 
little more than the year. From his early childhood Dam- 
pier had been a keen observer. On his former voyages he 
had gained some nautical experience, which he enlarged 
during the present, diligently studying the practical part of 
his profession, though he had not yet commenced a journal, 
the keeping of which came to be the solace of his roam- 
ing unconnected life, and the means of great mental im- 
provement. 

The summer after his return from India Dampier spent 
with his brother in Somersetshire, whose house in early life 
seems to have been his home while on shore. His next ser- 
vice was on board the Royal Prince^ in which he enlisted) 
England being then at war with Holland. He wa* in two 
engagements ; but of a third fought by the ship, in which 
the commander, Sir Edward Sprague, was killed, he was 
net a witness, having previously fallen into bad health. 
From the ship he was sent to Harwich hospital, and finally 
to his brother's, where he slowly recovered. 



206 DAMPIER ENGAGES AS A PLANTER. 

With returning health the love of the sea recurred ; but 
Dampier meanwhile accepted the offer of Colonel Hellier, 
and went to Jamaica as under-manager of a plantation be- 
longing to that gentleman, forming a special agreement with' 
the captain to protect himself from the frauds of the kid- 
nappers. The ship went " merrily along," steering for 
Barbadoes, which was the first of the islands that Dampier 
beheld. He was at this time tjventy-two years of age, ac 
tive, intelligent, and full of an instinctive curiosity, already 
under the guidance of a strong, clear, and prompt under- 
standing. 

St. Lucia was next seen, and afterward Tobago and St. 
Vincent's. He whose glance was ever quick and sure for 
every natural production of a new country was not likely 
to neglect its people. The condition of the Carib Indians, 
the aborigines of the islands, forcibly arrested the attention 
of the young voyager ; and he relates a contemporary inci- 
dent in a manner which betrays, rather than states, the sound* 
ness and, when the era is considered, the liberality of his 
opinions and the correctness of his moral feelings, while 
it places the Indian character in a favourable and also in a 
fair light, as contrasted with the European of the colonies. 

In passing St. Lucia, the captain of the vessel, seeing a 
smoke on the shore, the usual token of inhabitation, sent off 
a boat to purchase those fruits with which the Indians often 
supplied English vessels sailing by. Three Indians came 
to the ship's side in a canoe laden with sugar-canes, and 
also with plantains, pineapples, and other tropical fruits. 
They seemed much agitated, and often repeated the name 
of " Captain Warner." It proved that this Captain War- 
ner was the son of Governor Warner of Antigua, by an In- 
dian woman. He had been bred in his father's family as 
an English youth, but had acquired the language of his 
mother's tribe. As he grew up, finding himself ill-treated 
and despised, he fled to St. Lucia, and living among his 
Carib kinsmen, adopted their manners, and became one of 
their cMefs, roving with them from island to island, making 
inroads upon the planters, not sparing even Antigua. To 
avenge these injuries the legitimate son of the governor 
went out at the head of a party to encounter the Indians, 
and accidentally met with his Carib brother. The young 
man affected great joy at the meeting, and invited his hal£ 



LOGWOOD-CUTTERS OF CAMPEACHY. 207 

blood elder brother with his warriors to a feast, at which, 
on a preconcerted signal, the chief and all the Indians were 
treacherously slaughtered. It was said that the murdered 
Warner had been the friend of the Enghsh, and that pride 
alone instigated the young Creole to this perfidious butchery. 
" Such perfidious doings as these," says Dampier, " are 
great hindrances to our gaining an interest with the Indians, 
besides the baseness of them." 

As a planter Dampier was " clearly out of his element ;" 
and after spending sbme time in this ungenial occupation, 
he engaged with different traders belonging to Port Royal, 
who coasted round Jamaica, carrying goods from the planta- 
tions to that port. In these coasting voyages he became 
thoroughly acquainted with all the harbours and bays of the 
island, and with the land and sea winds and currents. 
Availing himself of every opportunity and means of ac- 
quiring knowledge, Dampier appears through life to have 
become wearied of every scene the moment he had ex- 
hausted the information it afforded, and to have longed for 
change as soon as he had over^mastered its difficulties. 
His next voyage, undertaken in August, 1675, was to the 
island of Trist, in the Bay of Campeachy, for a cargo of log- 
wood. In these late voyages he acted in the capacity of a 
common sailor in a small vessel ; but he now kept a regu- 
lar journal, and was no common observer. On this voyage 
to Campeachy his nautical remarks and observations on 
the appearances and bearings of the coasts, the headlands, 
bays, and islands, are ample and exact, — distinguished by 
the clearness and perspicuity which are visible in all his 
subsequent relations. They anchored at One-Bush-Key, 
an islet about a mile from the shore, and so named from 
having a single stunted tree. 

The life of the logwood-cutters of the Bay of Cam- 
peachy, free and unrestrained, had many charms for the 
young adventurer, and their jovial manners and frank hos- 
pitahty, with the lucrative nature of the occupation of these 
merry foresters, made him resolve to return and join their 
ranks as soon as his present engagement terminated. 

Logwood-cutting had now in many instances taken place 
of the hunting of wild cattle, which were become scarce. 
Some adventurers pursued both vocations, and others were 
wood-cutters alone. A third class occasionally added th© 



208 VOYAGE FROM TRIST TO JAMAICA. 

variety and profit of a privateering cruise to their quietev 
employments. 

The logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campcachy at this 
time amounted to about 250 men, mostly natives of Eng- 
land, though there were also Scotchmen and Irishmefn among 
their number. By Spain they were considered interlopers, 
and the trade contraband ; but this did not much disturb 
their consciences. Their general practice was to make up 
a cargo in joint stock companies, the partnership lasting 
till the contract for the number of tons agreed on was com- 
pleted. 

The traders who bought the die-wood carried the wood- 
cutters rum, sugar, tobacco, and other things necessary to 
them. The trade was usually opened by a solemn drinking- 
match on board the ships, where healths were pledged, and 
salvoes fired in honour of each pledge, with all the custom- 
ary demonstrations of Bucanier banqueting. The trader 
who was the most liberal of his rum-punch on such festive 
occasions might assure himself of tlie best bargain of log- 
wood ; the cutters pridinor themselves upon cheating those 
they thought niggardly of their liquor and good cheer. 

While taking fn the cargo Dampicr was often on shore, 
and frequently visited the cabins of the woodmen, who hos- 
pitably entertained him with the rough substantial fare 
which abounded among them, — pork and pease, — or beef, 
for which they hunted in the savannas, — with doughboys, 
a kind of thick unleavened cake, which, when oh shore, 
the Bucaniers and hunters often kneaded for themselves. 
They were equally profuse of their liquor while the supply 
lasted. 

The returning voyage of Dampierto Jamaica was singu- 
larly disastrous, and between Trist and Port-Royal the 
passage occupied thirteen weeks. Of the adventures and 
perils of this voyage he has left a very lively account. A 
passenger who returned with them to Jamaica — a prisoner 
who had escaped from the Spaniards — from his experience 
of this coast, was the means of saving them from being 
captured by a Spanish vessel, which gave chase to their 
bark. Though the crew had both fished and hunted at 
several places before they reached Jamaica, they were du- 
ring most part of the passage greatly pinched for provisions ; 
and on coming to anchor after so many hardships, they 



CONDITION OF THE WOOD-CUTTERS. 209 

Bent ashore for a supply, made a feast, and were just com- 
pounding a flowing bowl of punch, when the captain of a 
New-England trader came on board to visit them, and was 
invited to share in the carouse. What follows is an amusing 
trait of the nautical manners of the place and time : — 
" Mr. Hooker, being drank to by Captain Rawlins, who 
pledged Captain Hudswell, and having the bowl in his 
hands, said that he was under an oath to drink but three 
draughts of strong liquor in one day, and putting the bowl 
to his head turned it off at one draught, and so making 
himself drunk, disappointed our expectations till we made 
another bowl. I think it might contain six quarts." 

As soon as he was discharged, Dampier returned to the 
Bay of Campeachy to try his fortunes among the logwood 
cutters. Preparatory to this voyage he had provided him- 
self with hatchets, knives, axes, saws, wedges, the sleeping- 
pavilion necessary for defence against the insects in this 
climate, and a gun, with a supply of powder and shot. A 
power of attorney, lodged with a merchant who acted as 
factor for the logwood-cutters, completed his arrangements. 

The logwood forest in which the men laboured who were 
joined by Dampier was on the west lagune of Trist Island, 
in the Bay of Campeachy. 

The first wood-cutters were men who had adopted this 
occupation when bucaniering was overdone from the num- 
ber of competitors, and become dangerous from prohibitory 
edicts. They originally settled near the forests of the die- 
wood at Cape Catoch. When these were exhausted they 
had removed to the Isle of Trist ; — the first intimation to 
the Spaniards of their arrival on a new point being the 
strokes of their axes on the trees, or the report of their 
guns in the woods and savannas. These wood-cutters 
were divided into parties of from three to ten or twelve. 
The company which consented to receive Dampier as a 
helper, ignorant as he still was of their employment, con- 
sisted of six individuals, who had a cargo of logwood of a 
hundred tons already felled and chipped, and ready to be 
brought to the creek, whence it was to be shipped for New- 
England. His wages were to be the price of a ton of wood 
per month. 

The wood-cutters had constructedjtheir cabins close by 
the sides of the creeks of the east and west lagunes of Trist, 



210 CHARACTER AND HABITS 

for the enjoyment of the refreshing sea-breezes, and to be 
as near the diewood-groves as was found convenient. As 
the nearest trees gradually fell beneath their axes, they fre- 
quently, instead of abandoning a favourite habitation, re- 
paired to the scene of their daily labours in their canoes. 
To each company belonged a canoe, pirogue, or large boat, 
which was necessary in conveying their lading to the 
traders, and also in the chase ; for they hunted cattle by 
water as well as land, for this purpose driving them into 
narrow creeks. Their cabins were of fragile construction, 
but thickly thatched with palm-leaves, to shelter the inmates 
from the violent rains of the wet season. Above the floor 
a wooden frame was raised three or four feet, and this bar- 
becue, with the pavilion or mosquito-curtains stretched and 
supported over it, formed the sleeping-place of the wood- 
cutters ; another, equal in height, covered with earth, 
formed the domestic hearth ; and a third served as seats. 

The first adventurers who frequented the bay, after the 
existence and the value of the diewood in this tract had 
been accidentally discovered by an English slijp, were ac- 
tual Bucaniers, " who, though they could work well enough, 
yet thought it a dry business to toil at cutting wood." 
They were, moreover, good marksmen, and took great de 
light in hunting, though piracy was still their favourite pur- 
suit. Besides plundering on the seas, they often sallied out 
among the nearest Indian villages, which they pillaged 
without remorse, carrying oft' the Indian women to serve in 
bearing wood and other drudgery, while their husbands 
were sold to. the logwood merchants who visited the bay, 
and resold at Jamaica, To these ruffians the cabins of the 
ships which came to minister to their pleasures and neces- 
sities were now what the taverns of Port Hoyal, from which 
they were banished, had been. In these vessels they would 
gather at a grand drinking-match, and spend 30/. or 40/. at 
a sitting, carousing and firing oft' guns for three or four days 
successively. Whatever might have been the prevailing 
character of the wood-cutters at the time of Dampier's visit, 
the small company to which he was attached appear to have 
been of a more respectable description than ordinary. Two 
or three of them were natives of Scotland, who, if not, ac- 
tuated by higher motives, were restrained from falling into 
the extravagance and riot of their companions by the desire 



OF THE WOOD-CUTTERS. 211 

of accumulating money sufficient to enable them to entcar 
upon a better way of life. 

The logwood-groves were near the sea, — this wood grow- 
ing and thriving best in low wet ground, and among timber 
of lower growth. The trees were from two to six feet in 
circumference. They resembled the white thorn of Eng.- 
land, save in size. The heart of the trunk, which is red, is 
alone used as a diestuff, the spongy outer part being 
chipped away. It is a heavy wood, and burns well ; and 
for tbis reason the hunters, wood-cutters, and Bucaniers 
always, when it could be obtained, preferred it for harden- 
ing the steel of their firearms. Bloodwood, another die- 
stuff much esteemed, was found in the Gulf of Nicaragua, 
and sold at double the price of the logwood, — the latter sell- 
ing at 1.5/.* per ton, when the bloodwood cost 30/. 

Through five days, the logwood-cutters, while the indus- 
trious fit was upon them, plied their labours in the groves, 
and on Saturday hunted in the savannas as a recreation, 
and also to store their larders for the ensuing week.t When 
a bullock was shot, it was cut up where it lay, divided into 
quarters, and the large bones taken out, when each man 
thrust his head through a portion, and trudged home. If 
his load became too weighty, part was cut off and flung to 
the beastr and birds of prey which ever prowled and hovered 
near the hunter. But this mode of lightening their burdens 
was rarely resorted to from necessity. The wood-cutters 
were sturdy, robust fellows, accustomed to carry loads of 
wood of from three to four hundred weight ; though their 
burdens, like every thing else, were regulated by their own 
pleasure and discretion. During the rainy season, when 
the logwood-grounds were flooded, they would step from 

♦Valuable as this wood was, the French Bucaniers who capturea 
Campeachy, on one occasion, displayed their entliusiastic loyalty by 
burning 4'i,000/. worth in celebrating the birthday of their king, or the 
festival of St. Louis. 

t Datnpier says, that Saturday was emiiloyed by his party i"or hunting ; 
but his predecessors had not been so scrupulous in their observance of 
theSabbaih. Raynal tells, that a Bucan'ier, wlien one of his helpers 
(engage, or indented men) expostulated with a hunter for compelling 
him to work on Sunday, saying, God had forbidden this practice when 
He gave the commandment, "Six days shall thou labour, and on the 
seventh rest."-.-" And I," replied the ruffian, " say to thee, six days thou 
Shalt kill bulls and flay them, and on the seventh day thcu shall carry 
them to the store," 



212 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF THE BAY. 

their high bed-frames into two feet of water, and remain 
thus all day, — improving this cool season as that most 
favourable to a good day's work. If there were more than 
four about the killing of a bullock, while two or three dressed 
the meat the others went in search of more game, — a car- 
cass being the ordinary weekly allowance of four persons, 

In this part of the Bay of Campeachy the dry season 
commences in September and continues till April or May, 
when the wet weather sets in with fierce tornadoes, and 
continues thus till June, from which period rain falls almost 
incessantly till the end of August. By this time the rivers 
have risen, and the savannas and all the low grounds are 
overflowed ; and in this state they remain, the savannas 
appearing like inland lakes till December and January, 
when the water begins visibly to drain off, and by the mid- 
dle of February leaves the land dry. About the begirming 
of April the pools in the savannas axe dried up, and the 
whole country is so parched, that, but for a beautiful pro- 
vision of nature, the human beings and the birds and beasts, 
so lately surrounded with water, must perish of thirst. 

During the fervid consuming heats of this season the 
wood-cutters betook themselves to the forests in search of 
the wild pine, which afforded them a hearty and refreshing 
draught. This interesting plant is minutely described by 
Dampier, in that clear and succinct manner which charac- 
terizes all his notices of natural productions : — " The wild 
pine," he says, " is a plant so called because it somewhat 
resembles the bush that bears the pine ; they are commonly 
supported, or grow from some bunch, knot, or excrescence 
of the tree,#where they take root and grow upright. The 
root is short and thick, from whence the leaves rise up in 
folds one within another, spreading off at the top. They 
■are of a good thick substance, and about ten or twelve inches 
long. The outside leaves are so compact as to contain the 
rain-water as it falls. They will hold a pint and a half, or a 
quart ; and this water refreshes the leaves and nourishes 
the root. When we find these pines, we stick our knives 
into the leaves just above the root, and that lets out the 
water, which we catch in our hats, as I have done many 
limes to my great relief." Dampier's account of all the 
natural productions of this country is equally curious. The 
^nimals, besides those termed domestic, were the squash, 



MONKEYS. 213 

the wares, and pecaree, a species of wild hog, the opossiam, 
tiger-cat, monkeys, ant-bears, armadilloes,* porcupirtes, 
land-turtle, and the sloth, besides lizards, snakes, and igua- 
nas of many varieties. The general features of the country 
in this part of the bay are, the land near the sea and the 
lagunes, always wet and " mangrovy.''^ A little way back 
from the shore the soil is a strong yellow clay, with a thin 
surface of black mould. Here logwood-trees and low- 
growing timber of many kinds thrive. As it recedes farther 
from the sea the liind rises, and trees of taller growth arc 
met with, till the forests terminate in large savannas covered 
with long grass. These flats or natural meadows are gene- 
rally three miles wide, and often much more. The soil of 
the savannas is black, deep, and rich, and the grass luxuriant 
in growth, but of a coarse kind. As an easy mode of hus- 
bandry which suited them well, the cattle-hunters at the 
close of the dry season set Are to the grass of the savannas^ 
which, immediately after the setting in of the rains, were, 
covered by a new and delicate herbage. These plains are 
bounded by high ridges and declivities of the richest land„ 
covered with stately trees ; and these alternate ridges and 
flats, fine woodlands and grassy plains, stretch from ten to 
twenty miles into the interior, which was as far as Dam- 
pier's knowledge extended. 

In the woods monkeys abound, ranging in bands of from 
twenty to thirty, leaping from tree to tree, incessantly chat- 
tering with frightful noise, making antic gestures, and 
throwing sticks and other missiles at the passers-by. When 
first alone in the woods Dampier felt afraid to shoot at them. 
They accompanied him on his ramble, leaping from branch 
to branch, swinging overhead with threatening gestures, 
as if about to leap upon him, and only took leave at the 
wood-cutters' huts. Though they were easily shot, it was 
difficult to take them, as after being wounded they pertina- 
ciously clung to the high branches by their tails or claws 
while life remained. " I have pitied," says our navigator, 
*' the poor creature, to see it look on and handle the wounded 

* The armadilloes, of which many species are now ascertained, belong 
to the genus dasypus of naturalists. They are entirely confined to the 
New World, of which they inhabit chiefly the warmer "portions. They 
are animals of omnivorous habits, dwelling in woods, and preying on 
insects, eggs, small birds, and the roots of plants. 



214 SLOTH, GREEN-SNAKE, SPIDERS, ANTS, 

limb, and turn it about from side to side." The sloths feed 
on leaves, and are very destructive to trees, never forsaking 
one on which they have pitched till it is* stripped as bare as 
winter. A sloth requires eight or nine minutes to move 
one of its feet three inches forward, and it can neither be 
provoked nor frightened to move faster. Of some of the 
species of snakes, Dampier relates that they lurk in trees, 
" and are so mighty in strength as to hold a bullock fast by 
one of his horns," if it comes so near the tree as to allow the 
snake to twist itself about the horn and a limb of the tree 
at the same time. The Bucaniers sometimes ate them, 
though Dampier makes no favourable report of this kind ol 
food. An anecdote which he relates of a snake in the bay 
gives a rational account of what is termed fascination in 
birds. The green-snake, which is from four to five feet 
long and no thicker than a man's thumb, lurked among 
green leaves, from which it could hardly be distinguished, 
and preyed upon small birds. Dampier was one day about 
to take hold of a bird, which, to his astonishment, though 
it fluttered and cried, did not attempt to fly away. He dis- 
covered that about the upper part of the poor bird a green- 
snake had twisted itself. Spiders of prodigious size* were 
seen here, some almost as big as a man's hand, with long 
small legs Uke the spiders of Europe : — " They have two 
teeth, or rather horns, an inch and a half in length, and of 
a proportionable bigness, which are black as jet, smooth as 
glass, and their small end sharp as a thorn." These the 
Bucaniers and wood-cutters used as, toothpicks, as they 
were said to cure toothache. They also used them to pick 
their tobacco-pipes. The country abounded in ants of dif- 
ferent species, some of which had a sting " sharp as a spark 
of fire." They build their habitations between the limbs 
of great trees ; and some of the hillocks were " as large as 
a hogshead." In this manner the ants provide against the 
consequences of the rainy season, when their hillocks, if on 
the ground, must be overflowed. One species marched in 
troops, always in haste, as if in search of something, but 

* The Epeira cunncauda, described by M. Vautier {Annates des 
Sciences Naturelles, torn. i. p. 261), is remarkable for the posterior en- 
largement of its abdomen, which is terminated by a couple of arched and 
elongated spines.— See plate 50 of the new edition of the Encyclopcedia 
Britannica. 



♦THE HUMMING-BIRD AND SUBTLE JACK 215 

Steadily following their leaders wherever they went. Some- 
times a band of these ants would march through.the cabins 
of the wood-cutters, over their beds, or into their chests, — 
wherever the foremost went the rest all following. The 
logwood-cutters let them pass on, though some hours might 
be spent in the march. 

Frequently as the humming-bird has been described since 
it was seen by Dampier, his account of this, the most deli- 
cate and lovely of the feathered tribes, is as fresh and beau- 
tiful as when the young seaman, charmed with its loveli- 
ness, first entered a description of it into his rude journal : 
— " The humming-bird is a pretty little feathered creature, 
no bigger than a great overgrown wasp ; with a black bill 
no bigger than a small needle, and with legs and feet in 
proportion to his body. This creature does not wave its 
wings like other birds when it flies, but keeps them in a 
continued quick motion, like bees or other insects ; and like 
them makes a continued humming noise as it flies. It is 
very quick in motion, and haunts about flowers and fruit 
like a bee gathering honey ; making many addresses to its 
delightful objects, by visiting them on all sides, and yet still 
keeps in motion, sometimes on one side sometimes on the 
other, as often rebounding a foot or two back on a sudden, 
and as quickly returns again, keeping thus about one flower 
five or six minutes or more." 

The wood-cutters and hunters in their out-door and syl- 
van life became famiUar with all the living creatures of 
these prolific regions, and gave them EngUsh names signifi- 
cant of their habits. They adopted the superstition of the 
Spaniards against killing the carrion-crows, which were 
found so useful in clearing the country of the putrid car- 
casses of animals. Trains of these birds gathered from 
all quarters about the hunters, and regularly followed them 
into the savannas for their own share of the prey. A bird 
which they named the Subtle Jack was about as big as the 
pigeons of the bay. It suspended its nest from the boughs 
of lofty trees, choosing such as, up to a considerable height, 
were without limbs. The branches selected were those 
that spread widest ; and of these the very extremity was 
chosen. The nests hung down two or three feet from the 
twigs to which they were fastened, ahd looked like "cab- 
bage-nets stuffed with hay." The thread by which it is 



216 ALLIGATORS OF CAMPEACHY 

suspended, like the nest itself, is made of long grass ingte- 
niously twisted and interwoven, small at the twig, but 
thickening as it approaches the nest. On trees that grow 
singly and apart the birds build all round ; but where the 
trees stand in proximity to others, the Subtle Jack chooses 
only those that border upon a savanna, pool, or creek ; and 
of these the limbs that stretch over the water or the grass, 
avoiding such as may be easily approached from neighbour- 
ing trees. The nest has a hole at the side for the bird to 
enter: — " 'Tis pretty," says Danipier, "to see twenty or 
thirty of them hanging round a tree."* 

In these savannas and primeval forests an endless 
variety of birds and insects engaged the attention of the 
young seaman, to which we cannot now advert. The 
creeks, rivers, and lagunes, as well as the open shores, were 
equally prolific of fishes unknown in the English waters. 
No place in the world was better stored with alligators 
than the Bay of Campeachy. These the Bucaniers, wno 
scrupled at no sort of food, never ate, save in cases of great 
necessity, as even their intrepid stomachs were offended by 
the strong musky flavour of the flesh of this hideous crea- 
ture. The alligators of the bay were generally harmless 
when not molested ; though accidents sometimes occurred, 
of which one is recorded by Dampier that merits notice. 
In the height of the dry season, when in those torrid 
regions all animated nature pants with consuming thirst, a 
party of the wood-cutters, English and Irish, went to hunt 
in the neighbourhood of a lake called Pies Pond, in Beef 

* It is sometimes by no means easy to connect the observations of 
the sailor abroad with the lucubrations of the man of science at home; 
and eacli perliaps regards the designations of the other as barbarous. 
There is, however, frequently more meaning in the names bestowed by 
the practical observer tlian in those of the closet-naturalist. The chief 
objection to popular names is, that they too often proceed upon mere 
analogies in habits, rather than ou identity of specific forms. Thus the 
carrion-crow, frequently mentioned by Damfier and other voyagets 
along the American shores, is not a crow but a species of vulture. In 
regard to the Sribtle Jack, there are several species of birds which con- 
struct their nests in the ingenious and elaborate manner above men- 
tioned. Of these one of the most noted is ih^. Hang-nest-oriole {Orio- 
lus nidipenduius of Latham), described by Sir Hans Sloane in his His- 
tory of Jamaica. Tt builds in woods, and forms its nest of the infernal 
fibres of a parasitic plant, popularly known in the West Indies by the 
title of old man's beard. The nest is suspended from the extreme twigs 
of the tree. 



Adventure with an alligator. fii^ 

Jsland, one of the smaller islands of the bay. To this 
pond the wild cattle repaired in herds to drink, and here the 
hunters lay in wait for them. The chase had been prose- 
cuted with great success for a week, when an Irishman of 
the party, going into the water during the day, stumbled 
upon an alligator, which seized him by the knee. His cries 
alarmed his companions, who, fearing that he had been 
seized by the Spaniards, to whom the island belonged, and 
who chose the dry season to hunt, and repel their unwel- 
come neighbours, instead of affording assistance, fled from 
the huts which they had erected. The Irishman, seeing no 
appearance of help, with happy presence of mind quietly 
waited till the alligator loosened its teeth to take a new and 
surer hold ; and whea it did so, snatched away his knee, 
interposing the butt-end of his gun in its stead, which the 
animal seized so firmly that it was jerked out of the man's 
hand and carried off. He then crawled up a neighbouring 
tree, again shouting after his comrades, who now found 
courage to return. His gun was found next day, dragged 
ten or twelve paces from the place where it had been seized 
by the alligator. 

At the same place, Pies Pond in Beef Island, t)ainpiei' 
had a remarkable escape from an alligator. Passing with 
some of his comrades through a small savanna, where the 
water lay two or three feet deep, in search of a bullock to 
shoot for supper, a strong scent of an alligator was per- 
ceived, and presently Dampier stumbled over one and fell 
down. He cried out for help, but his companioiis ran to- 
wards the woods to save themselves. No sooner had he 
scrambled up to follow them, than in the agitation of the 
moment he fell a second and even a third time, expecting 
every instant to be devoured, and yet escaped untouched ; 
but he candidly says, " I was so frighted, that I never cared 
to go through the water again as long as t was in the 
Bay." 

On the first Saturday afier he comrnenced wood-cuttet, 
Dampier followed his employers in the humble capacity of 
raising and driving the cattle out of the savannas into the 
woods, where the hunters lay in wait to shoot them. The 
following Saturday his ambition took a higher flight. He 
thought it more honourable to have a shot himself than to 
drive the game for others ; and, after going five miles bj 
T 



218 DAMPIER S ADVENTURE 

water and one by land, to the hunting-ground, he gave hi» 
companions the slip, and ramhled so far into the woods that 
he lost himself, going at every step farther astray through 
small strips of savanna and skirts of vpoodland — a maze 
of plain and forest which seemed interminable. The rest 
of this youthful adventure, from which Dampier drew a 
beneficial lesson for the regulation of his future Ufa, can- 
not be better narrated than in his own words. " This was 
in May (the dry season), and it was between ten o'clock 
and one when I began to find that I was, as we call it, 
marooned^ or lost, and quite out of the hearing of my 
comrades* guns. I was somewhat surprised at this ; but, 
however, I knew that I should find my way out as soon as 
the sun was a little lower. Sol sat down to rest myself, 
resolving, however, to run no farther out of my way, 
for the sun being so near the zenith I could not distinguish 
how to direct my course. Being weary, and almost faint 
for want of water, I was forced to ha,ve recourse to the wild 
pines, and was by them supplied, or else I must have 
perished with thirst. About three o'clock I went due 
north, or as near as I could judge, for the savanna lay east 
and west, and I was on the south side of it. 

" At sunset I got out into the clear open savanna, being 
about two leagues wide m most places, but how long I 
know not. It is well stored with bullocks, but by frequent 
hunting they grow shy, and remove farther up into the 
country. There I found myself four or five miles to the 
west of the place where I had straggled from my compan- 
ions. I made homeward with all the speed I could ; but 
being overtaken by the night, I lay down on the grass a 
good distance from the woods, for the benefit of the wind 
to keep the mosquitoes from me ; but in vain, for in less 
than an hour's time I was so persecuted, that though I en- 
deavoured to keep them off by fanning myself with boughs, 
and shifting my quarters three or four times, yet still they so 
haunted me that I could get no sleep. At daybreak I got 
up and directed my course to the creek where we landed, 
from which I was then about two leagues. I did not see 
one beast of any sort whatever in all the way, though the 
day before I saw several young calves that could not follow 
their dams ; but even these were now gone away, to my 
great vexation and disappointment, for I was very hungry. 



IN THE FORESTS. 219 

But, about a mile farther, I espied ten or twelve quaums* 
perching on the boughs of a cotton-tree. These were not 
shy : therefore I got well under them, and having a single 
bullet, but no shot, about me, fired at one of them and missed 
it, though I had often before killed them so. Then I came 
up with and fired at five or six turkeys with no better suc- 
cess, so that I was forced to march forward, still in the 
savanna, towards the creek ; and when I came to the path 
that led to it through the woods, I found to my great joy a 
hat stuck upon a pole, and when I came to the creek an- 
other. These were set up by my consorts, who had gone 
home in the evening, as signals that they would come and 
fetch me. Therefore I sat down and waited for them ; for 
although I had not above three leagues home by water, yet 
it would have been very diflScult, if not impossible, for me 
to have got thither overland, by reason of those vast im- 
passable thickets abounding everywhere along the creek's 
side, wherein I have known some puzzled for two or three 
days, and have not advanced half a mile, although they 
laboured extremely every day. Neither was I disappointed 
of my hopes, for within half an hour after my arrival in 
the creek my consorts came, bringing every man his bottle 
of water and his gun, both to hunt for game and to give me 
notice by firing, that I might hear them^ for I have known 
several men lost in the like manner, and never heard of 
aftervtrard." 

Dampier had the more reason to eongratulate himself on 
the issue of this adventure, that shortly before the captain 
and six of the crew of a Boston ship had wandered into 
the woods, part of whom were never again heard of. The 
captain, who was found in a thicket in a state of extreme 
exhaustion, stated that his men had dropped one by one, 
fainting for thirst in the parched savannas. 

When his first month's service was ended, Dampier re- 
ceived as pay the price of a ton of wood, with which he 
bought provisions, and entered into a new engagement, on 
the footing of comradeship, but with other partners. Of 
the former company to which he had been attached, some 

♦ The quaum, quan, or guan, is a species of the genus Penelope. It 
jB frequently domesticated in Brazil for the salte of the flesh, which is 
excellent eating. Another species of the genus {Penelope pipUe of 
Temnunck) is Iuiowq under the name of the Yacou Turkey, 



@20 FORMS A NEW ENGAGEMENT. 

went to Beef Island to hunt bullocks for their skins, which 
they prepared for sale by pegging them strongly down to 
the ground, turning first the fleshy and then the hairy side 
uppermost, till they were perfectly dry. It required thirty- 
two pegs, each as thick as a roan's arm, to stretch one hide ; 
afterward they were hung in heaps upon a pole, that they 
Plight not touch the ground, and from time to time well 
beat with sticks to drive out the worms which bred in the 
gkins and spoiled them. Before being shipped off, they 
were soaked in salt water to kill the remaining worms. 
While still wet they were folded up, left thus for a time, 
and once more thoroughly dried and packed for oxporta^ 
tion. 

To this trade Dampier preferred wood-cutting. His part- 
ners were three Scotchmen, Price Morrice, Duncan Camp- 
bell, and a third, who is called by his Christian-name of 
George only. The two latter were persons of education, 
who had been bred merchants, and liked neither the em- 
ployment nor the society of the bay ; they therefore only 
waited the first opportunity of gettiug away by a logwood- 
ship. The first vessel that arrived was from Boston, and 
this they freighted with forty tons of diewood, which it was 
agreed Duncan Campbell should go to New-England to 
sell, bringing back flour and other things suited to the mar- 
ket of the bay, to exchange for hides and logwood ; while 
George remained making up a fresh cargo against Camp- 
bell's return. And here Dampier makes an observation on 
the character of his associates which deserves to be noticed 
as the result of the experience of a man who had seen and 
reflected much upon life and manners. " This," he says, 
" retarded our business, for I did not find Price Morrice 
very intent on work ; for 'tis like he thought he had log- 
wood enough. And I have particularly observed there, and 
in other places, that such as had been well-bred were gene- 
rally most careful to improve their time, and would be very 
industrious and frugal when there was any probability of 
considerable gain. But, on the contrary, such as had been 
inured to hard labour, and got their living by the sweat of 
their brows, when they came to have plenty, would extrava^ 
gantly squander away their time and money in drinking 
and making a bluster." 

To m^ke up for the indolence of his comrade Dampie? 



TREMENDOUS HURRICANE. 221 

kept the closer to work himself, till attacked by a very sin- 
gular disease. A red and ill-conditioned swelling or bile 
Lroke out upon his right leg, which he was directed to 
poultice with the roasted roots of the white lily. This he 
persisted in doing for some days, " when two white specks 
appeared in the centre of the bile, and on squeezing it two 
small white worms spurted out, about the thickness of a 
Aen's quill, and three or four inches long."* These were 
quite different from the Guinea- worm, common in some of 
the West India islands, and in the time of Dampier very 
common in Cura9ao. From these last he afterward suf- 
fered severely. 

Shortly after his recovery from this attack the bay was 
visited by one of those tremendous hurricanes known only 
in tropical countries, which raged for twenty-four hours 
without intermission. This was in June, 1676. Two 
days before the storm came on the wind " whiffled" about 
to the south and back again to the east, but blew faintly, 
while the weather continued very fair, though it was re- 
marked that the men-of-war birds came trooping towards 
the shore in great numbers, and hovered over the land. 
The hunters and logwood-cutters, among their numerous 
superstitions, augured the arrival of ships from the appear- 
ance of those birds, and imagined that as many birds as 
hovered over-head so many vessels might be expected. 
At this time there appeared whole flocks. 

It was noticed by Dampier, that for two days the tide 
kept ebbing, till the creek by which the woodmen's huts 
stood was left nearly dry. In it there was commonly at 
«bb-tide seven or eight feet of water, but now scarcely 
three remained even in the deepest places. At four o'clock 
in the afternoon following this strange ebbing of the 
waters^ the sky looked very black, the wind sprung up at 
S. E., fresh and rapidly increasing, and in less than two 
hours blew down all the cabins of the woodmen save one : 
this they propped with posts, and, as it were, anchored bv 

* The worms above mentioned, distinguished by their comparatrve 
shortness and thickness from the more slender Guinea-worm, were 
probably the larvae of a species of gadfly, which has been named CEstrtia 
hominis, on account of its oc(;asionally depositing its eggs on the skin 
of the human race. See an account of a similar species in a late num- 
ber of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 



^22 EFFECTS OF THE STORM, 

^pasting ropes over the roof, which were then made fast on 
both sides to stumps of trees. In this frail shed they all 
huddled together while the hurricane raged abroad. It 
yained in torrents during the whole period of the tempest ; 
and in two hours after the wind had risen the water flowed 
go fast into the creek that it was as high as the banks. 
Though the wind now blew off shore, the waters continued 
to rush in, nor' did the rain abate ; and bj'^ ten o'clock next 
morning the banks of the creek were overflowed. 

The situation of the woodmen now became perilous. 
They brought their canoe to the side of the hut, and 
fastened it to the stump of a tree as a means of escape ; 
this being their only hope of safety, as beyond the banks 
which edged the creek the land fell, and there " was now 
jio walking through the woods because of the water. 
Besides, the trees were torn up by the roots, and tumbled 
down so strangely across each other that it was almost 
impossible to pass through them." In this violent tempest 
many fish were either cast alive upon the shore or found 
jfloating dead in the lagnnes. It was remarkable that the 
hurricane, as was afterward ascertained, did not extend 
ninety miles to windward. 

Of four ships riding at anchor at One-Bush-Key, three 
vyere driven from their moorings, and one of them was 
carried up into the woods of Beef Island. 

The wood-cutters suffered in many ways. The whole 
country was laid under water to a considerable depth, there 
being three feet even on the highest land ; so that they 
could not for some time prosecute their labours. Miich 
of their provision was destroyed, and what remained they 
had' no way of cooking save in their canoes. 

As soon as the storm abated, Dampier's company em- 
barked in the canoe and made for One-Bush-Key, about 
four leagues distant, hoping to procure assistance from the 
ships there. These, as has been noticed, had all been 
driven from their anchors save one ; and the kindness of 
the crew of this fortimate vessel had already been severely 
taxed by an influx of the flooded wood-cutters from dif- 
ferent points. Dampier and his companions could get 
" neither bread nor punch, nor so much as a drapa of rum, 
though they offered to pay for it." From this inhospita- 
ble quarter they rowed for Beef Istod, their Mngular laRcJ" 



WANDERING INDIANS. 223 

mark being the flag of a ship displayed in the woods. The 
vessel herself was found two hundred yards from the sea, 
from which she had cut her way in the storm, levelling the 
trees on each side, and making a clear path before her 
through the forest. In this transit the stumps had gone 
through her bottom, and there was no way of saving her. 
Meanwhile she held together, and the forlorn woodmen 
were well entertained with victuals and punch, and invited 
to remain for the night ; but, hearing a signal-gun fired 
from a distant lagune, they concluded that one of the ships 
was driven in there by distress, and rowed off to her assist- 
ance. With a Captain Chandler, whom they found here 
greatly in want of their services, Dampier and his partners 
laboured for two days, and then went to Beef Island to 
hunt for cattle. This island is about seven leagues long, 
and in breadth from three to four : at the east end " low 
drowned land :" the middle is one large savanna, bor- 
dered with trees ; the south side, between the savannas 
and the mangrove-belt or swampy ground, is very rich. 

But the social condition of Beef Island, at the time speci- 
fied, is more an object of interest than its natural pro- 
ductions. It had been lately settled by a colony of In- 
dians : — " It is no new thing," says Dampier, " for the 
Indians of these woody parts of America to fly away, whole 
towns at once, and settle themselves in the unfrequented 
woods to enjoy their freedom ; and if they are accidentally 
discovered they will remove again ; which they, can easily 
do, their household-goods being little else but tlieir ham- 
mocks and their calabashes. They build every man his 
own house, and tie up their hammocks between two trees, 
wherein they sleep till their houses are made. The 
woods afford them some subsistence, such as pecaree and 
waree ; but they that are thus strolling, or marooning as 
the Spaniards call it, have plantain-walks that no man 
knows but themselves, and from thence have their food 
till they have raised plantation-provision near their new- 
built town. They clear no more ground than what they 
actually employ for their subsistence. They make no 
paths ; but when they go far from home they break now 
and then a bough, letting it hang down, which serves as a 
mark to guide them in their return. If they happen to be 
discovered by other Indians inhabiting among the Spaiip 



224 THEIR CHARACTER AND MODE OF LIFE 

iards, or do hut distrust it, they immediately shift their 
quarters to another place, this large country affording them 
good fat land enough, and very woody, and therefore a 
proper sanctuary for them. 

It was some of these fugitive Indians that came to settle 
at Beef Island, where, besides gaining their freedom from 
the Spaniards, they might see their friends and acquaint- 
ances that had been taken some time before by the priva- 
teers and sold to the logwood-cutters, with whom some of 
the women lived still, though others had been conducted by 
them to their own habitations. It was these women, after 
their return, that made known the kind entertainment they 
met with from the English, and persuaded their friends to 
leave their dwellings near the Spaniards and settle on this 
island. They had been here almost a year before they 
were discovered by the English, and even then were acci- 
dentally found out by the hunters as they followed their 
game : — " They were not very shy all the time I was 
there," continues Dampier ; " but I know that upon the 
kast disgust they would have been gone." This avoid- 
ance of their "kind entertainers," the English, does not 
look as if the Indians had been peculiarly anxious to culti- 
vate their further acquaintance. The poor Indians were 
undoubtedly equally anxious to conceal themselves and 
their plantations from the Spaniards, from whom they fled, 
and the English hunters and logwood-cutters, whom they 
shunnexl. 

John d'Acosta, a Spaniard of the town of Campeachy, 
who held a grant of this island, managed better than any 
of his countrymen in securing his property from the depre- 
dations of the Bucaniers. In the dry season he spent 
usually a couple of months here with his servants, " hocks- 
ing" cattle for their hides and tallow. Beef was to hira 
of course of small value ; and happening at one time to 
encounter the logwood-men hunting in his savannas,, he 
requested them to desist, saying that firing made the cattle 
wild ; but that if they wanted beef he would supply them 
with as much as they pleased by hocksing. They accepted 
the offer, and acted with honour to John d'Acosta, who 
soon became very popular among them, though their friend- 
ship did him no good with his own countrymen. He was 
thrown into prison upon suspicion of conniving with the 



SPANISH MODE OF HUNTING. 225 

Bucaniers, and forfeited his right to Beef Island, which 
henceforth the Spaniards abandoned to the English hunters 
and freebooters. 

The manner of hunting wild cattle, termed hocksing or 
houghing, was peculiar to the Spaniards, the English 
always using firearms in the chase. The Spanish hocksers, 
in the course of many years' practice, became dexterous at 
their art. They were always mounted on good horses, 
which were as diligently and early trained to the sport as 
■the rider, and as well aware when to advance and retreat 
with advantage. The hunter was armed with a hocksing- 
iron in the shape of a crescent, about seven inches in 
length, and having a very sharp edge. This was fastened 
to a pole about fourteen feet in length, which the hunter 
laid over the horse's head, the instrument projecting for^ 
ward. Riding up to his prey, with this he strikes, and sel- 
dom fails to hamstring it, when the horse instantly wheels 
to the left to avoid the attack of the wounded animal. If 
the stroke has not quite severed all the sinews, the animal 
soon breaks them himself by continually attempting to leap 
forward. While limping thus, and somewhat exhausted, the 
hunter rides up to him again, and at this time attacks him 
in front, striking the iron into the knee of one of his fore-legs. 
The animal usually drops, when the hunter dismounts, and 
with a sharp-pointed knife strikes into the head a little 
behind the horns so dexterously, that at one stroke the 
head drops as if severed from the neck, and the poor beast 
is dead. The hunter remounts and pursues other game, 
while the skinners take off the hide. 

The English hunters had so greatly thinned the numbers 
of wild cattle on Beef Island that it was now dangerous for 
a single man to hunt them, or to venture through the sa- 
vannas, so desperate and vicious had they become. An 
old bull once shot at never failed to remember the attack 
and to offer battle ; and the whole herd sometimes drew up 
in array to defend themselves. The account which Dam- 
pier gives of the tactics of the wild cattle almost borders 
upon the marvellous, though he is one of the most veracious 
and unpretending of travellers, rather diminishing than ex^ 
aggerating the dangers he had passed and the wonders he 
had seen. The old bulls led the van, behind them were 
ranged the cows, and next in order the young cattle» 



226 DAMPIER JOINS THE BUCANIERS. 

Wherever the hunters attempted to break the line the bulls 
opposed their embattled front, wheeling round in every di- 
rection to face the enemy. The aim of the hunter was 
therefore rather an animal detached from the herd than a 
general or open attack. If the prey was desperately 
wounded, in its rage it made for the hunter ; but if only 
slightly, it scampered off. These assaults of the infuriated 
animals were sometimes attended by fatal accidents. 

The hurricane had deprived Dampier of his slender stock 
of provisions ; and having neither money nor credit to ob- 
tain a fresh supply from the traders who arrived from Ja- 
maica, he was forced for immediate subsistence to join a 
company of " privateers" then in the bay. With these 
Bucaniers he continued for nearly a year, rambling about 
the Bay of Campeachy, visiting its numerous creeks, islands, 
and rivers, and making with them frequent descents upon 
Indian villages and Spanish settlements. At these places 
they obtained supphes of Indian corn, which, with the beef 
for which they hunted, turtle, and manatee, formed their 
principal subsistence ; Dampier in every passing hour add- 
ing to his stores of knowledge. 

The manatee, or sea-cow, as seen by Dampier in the Bay 
of Campeachy, the river Darien, at Mindanao, and on the 
coast of New-Holland, he describes as of the thickness of a 
horse, and in length ten or twelve feet. The mouth is like 
that of a cow, the lips are very thick, the eyes no bigger 
than a pea, and the ears two small holes. It frequents 
creeks, inlets, and mouths of rivers, and never leaves the 
water for any length of time. It lives on a sort of grass 
which grows in the sea. The flesh is white, sweet, and 
wholesome. The tail of a young cow was esteemed a deli- 
cate morsel by the Bucaniers, and so was a sucking-calf, 
which they cooked by roasting. The tough, thick skin of 
the manatee*' they applied to various uses. 

* The manatee (manatus AmsricantLs) is a cetaceous animal, belongr- 
ing to the herbiverons division of that order. They live in troops. The 
male is said to be remarkable for his attachment to the female, and the 
latter is characterized by the strength of her aft'ection for her young, which 
she supports by means of her swimming-paws for some days after their 
birth. The genus inhabits the mouths of the great rivers of the western 
shores of Africa, as well as those of the eastern coast of the New World. 
The species alluded to in the text has now become much more rare in 
places of frequent resort than it appears to have been in former times. 
The females of one or other of the species, in common with the Indian 



THE MANATEE AND MOUNTAIN-COW. 227 

The Mosquito Indians were peculiarly dexterous in fish- 
ing, and also in striking manatee and catching turtle ; for 
Tvhich purpose the Bucaniers always tried to have one or 
two natives of the Mosquito Shore attached to their com- 
pany as purveyors on their cruises. 

In the river of Tobasco, near its mouth, abundance of 
manatee was found, there being good feeding for them in thf» 
creeks. In one creek, which ran into the land for two or 
three hundred paces, and where the water was so shallow 
that the backs of the animals were seen as they fed, they 
were found in great numbers. On the least noise they 
dashed out into the deep water of the river. There was also 
a fresh-water species resembling those of the sea, but not so 
large. The banks of the creek which they frequented wer« 
swampy and overgrown with trees ; and the same place 
aiForded great abundance of land-turtle, the largest Dam- 
pier ever saw save at the Gallapagos Islands, in the South 
Sea, — the very head-quarters of turtle, (hi the borders of 
the Tobasco lie ridges of dry, rich land, covered with lofty 
" cotton and cabbage-trees, which make a pleasant land- 
scape," and in some places guava-trees, bearing large and 
finely-flavoured fruit ; there were also cocoa-plums and 
grapes. The savannas, on which herds of deer and bul- 
locks were seen feeding, especially in the mornings and 
evenings, were fenced with natural groves of the guava. 
Darapier appears to have been delighted with the aspect of 
this " delicious place." While he was here, a party hunt- 
ing in the savannas late in the evening shot a deer ; one 
of them, while skinning the animal, was shot dead by a com- 
rade, who in the twilight mistook him for another deer. 

dngong, are supposed, from the peculiarity of their appearance in the 
water, to have given rise to the stories of mermaids, syrens, and other 
imaginary monsters. 

The mountain-cow of Dampier and the earlier voyagers, which from 
being occasionally seen in the water they sometimes confounded with 
the manatee, is a species of tapir (tapirus Americanus), and has no alli- 
ance with the hippopotamus, which never occurs in the New World. 
From a supposed resemblance, however, to tliat animal in form or habit, 
it was named hippopotamus terrestrishy Linnseus. It inhabits the east- 
ern shores of South America, from the Isthmus of Darien to the Straits 
of Magellan ; and although it breeds in dry places on the sides of hills, 
it also frequents moist and marshy stations, and is an excellent swim" 
mer. When hunted, it takes to the water, and descends for safety to the 
bottom. Its food consists of wild fruits and the delicate sprigs and 
branches of various shrubs. It also searches eagerly after a kind of lUr 
b'ous earth called barrero 



223 l??DiANS OF THE RIVHR TOBASCO. 

For above twenty miles up th^ river there was no s^tle-* 
ment ; after which there was a small fort, with a garrison 
donsisting of a Spaniard and eight or ten Indians whom he 
commanded, whose husiness was rather to spread alarm into 
the interior if the Bucaniers approached than to resist their 
attacks. Their precautions were, however, useless when 
opposed to the address and activity of the Bucaniers, who 
had frequently pillaged the towns and villages on this river, 
though latterly they had sometimes been repulsed with loss. 
In some of these towns there were merchants and planters, 
docoa-Avalks being frequent on both sides of the river. 
Some parts along the banks were thickly planted with Indian 
towns, each having a padre, and also a cacique, or governor. 
These Indians were free labourers in the cocoa-walks of the 
Spanish settlers, though a few of them had plantations of 
maize, plantain-walks, and even small cocoa-walks of their 
own. Some of the natives were bee-hunters, searching In the 
hollow trees in the woods for hives, and selling the wax and 
honey. These Indian bee-hunters were so ingenious as to 
supply the wild bees* with trees artificially hollowed, and 
thus increased the number of hives and the profits of their 
traffic. "The Indians inhabiting these villages live like 
gentlemen," says Darapier, " in comparison of many near 
any great towns, such as Campeachy or Merida ; for there 
even the poorer and rascally sort of people that are not able 
to hire one of these poor creatures will by violence drag 
them to do their drudgery for nothing, after they have 
worked all day for their masters." 

The Indians of the villages on the Tobasco lived chiefly 
on maize, which they baked into cakes, and from which they 
also made a sort of liquor, which, when allowed to sour, 
afforded a pleasant, refreshing draught. When a beverage 
for company was wanted, a Httle hone}/ was mixed with 
this drink. A stronger liquor was made of parched maize 
and anotta, which was drunk without straining. The In- 
dians reared abundance of turkeys, ducks, and fowls, — the 

* All the bees native to tbe New World at the period of its discovery 
by the Spaniards were found to be distinct from those of Europe. The 
honey-bee {apis mellijica) is now common in America, but it was im- 
ported thither for its economical uses. Many swarms have cast in the 
Woods ; and the European bee, itself of Asiatic origin, may now be found 
Wild at great distances from any human habitation. We cannot nam® 
l»ith certainty the precise species alluded to by Dampier. 



ASSAULT ON ALVARADO. 229 

padre taking such strict account of the tithe that it was 
hecessary to procure his license before they durst kill one. 
They also raised cotton, and manufactured tLeir own cloth- 
ing, which for both sexes was decent and becoming. 

Under the sanction of thp village-priest all marriages 
were contracted ; the men marrying *t fourteen, the women 
at twelve. If at this early agt they had made no choice, 
then the padre sellected for them. These early marriages 
were one means of securing the power and increasing the 
gains of the priest ; and the young couples themselves were 
contented, happy, and affectionate. They inhabited good 
houses, lived comfortably by the sweat of their brows, and 
on holy eves and saints' days enjoyed themselves under the 
direction of their spiritual guides, who permitted them the 
recreation of pipe i.nd tabor, hautboys and drums, and lent 
them vizards r.i. ; ornaments for the mummings and other 
amusements Av;iich they practised. The village churches 
were lofty compared with the ordinary dwelling-houses, and 
ornamented with coarse pictures of tawny or bronze-coloured 
saints and madonnas, recommended to the Indians by the 
tint of the native complexion. To their good padres, not- 
withstanding the tithe-fowls, the Indian flocks were submis- 
sive and affectionate. 

We cannot here follow the minute account which Dam* 
pier has given of all the rivers of Campeachy during his 
cruise of eleven months around this rich country. The far- 
thest west point which he visited was Alvarado, to which 
the Bucaniers with whom he sailed went in two barks, thirty 
men in each. The river flows through a fertile country, 
thickly planted with Spanish towns and Indian villages. 
At its mouth was a small fort placed on the declivity of a 
sandbank, and mounted with six guns. The sandbanks are 
here about 200 feet high on both sides. 

This fort the Bucaniers attacked ; but it held out stoutly 
f)r Ave hours, during which time the country was alarmed, 
and the inhabitants of the adjoining town got off in their 
boats, carrying away all their money and valuables and the 
best part of their goods. The Bucaniers lost ten men killed 
or desperately wounded ; and when they landed next morn- 
ing to pillage, it being dark before the fort yielded, little 
booty was found. Twenty or thirty bullocks they killed, 
salted, and sent on board, with salt fish, Indian corn, and 
V 



230 ESCAPE OF THE BUCANlERS, 

abundance of poultry. They also found and brought aWay 
many tame parrots of a very beautiful kind, yellow and 
scarlet curiously blended, — the fairest and largest birds of 
their kind Dampier ever saw in the West Indies. " They 
prated very prettily." 

Though little solid booty was obtained, what with pro- 
visions, chests, hencoops, and parrots' cages, the ships were 
filled and lumbered ; and while in this state seven Spanish 
drmadilloes from Vera Cruz, detached in pursuit of the 
Bucaniers, appeared, coming full sail over the bar into the 
river. Not a moment was to be lost. Clearing their decks 
of lumber by throwing all overboard, the Bucaniers got 
under full sail, and drove over the bar at the river's mouth, 
before the enemy, who could with difficulty stem the cur- 
rent, had scarcely reached it. The Spanish vessels were to 
windward, and a few shots were of necessity e-xchanged ; 
and now commenced one of those singular escapes* from 
tremendous odds of strength of which Bucanier history is so 
full. The Toro, the admiral of the Spanish barks, was of 
itself more than a match for the freebooters. It carried 10 
guns and 100 men, while their whole force was now dimin- 
ished to 50 men in both ships, one of which carried 6, the 
other 2 guns. Another of the Spanish vessels carried 4 
gjins, with 80 men ; and the remaining five, though not 
mounted with great guns, had each 60 or 70 men armed 
with muskets. "As soon," says Dampier's journal, "as 
we were over the bar, we got our larboard tacks aboard, and 
stood to the eastward as nigh the wind as we could lie. The 
Spaniards came quartering on us ; and our ship being the 
headmost, the Toro came directly towards us, designing to 
board us. We kept firing at her, in hopes to have lamed 
either a mast or a yard ; but failing, just as she was sheer- 
ing aboard we gave her a good volley, and presently clapped 
the helm aweather, wore our ship, and got our starboard 
tacks aboard, and stood to the westward, and so left the 
Toro ; but were saluted by all the small craft as we passed 
them, who stood to the eastward after the Toro, that was 
now in pursuit and close to our consort. We stood to the 
westward till we were against the river's mouth, then we 
tacked, and by the help of the current that came out of the 
river we were near a mile to windward of them all. Then 
■we mude sail to assist our consort, who was hard put to it; 



dampier's marriage. 231 

t)ut on our approach the Toro edged away towards the 
shore, as did all the rest, and stood away for Alvarado ; and 
we, glad of the deliverance, went away to the eastward, and 
visited all the rivers in our return again to Trist." 

These visits produced little booty. They also searched 
the bays for munjack, " a sort of bitumen which we find in 
a lump, washed up by the sea, and left dry on all the sandy 
bays of the coast." This substance the Bucaniers, who 
were compelled to find substitutes for many necessary things, 
tempered with tallow or oil, and employed as pitch in re- 
pairing their ships and canoes. 

On the return of Dampier to the Island of Trist, the 
effects of the dismal hurricane of the former year had dis^ 
appeared, and he resumed his labours among the woodmen. 
This employment was probably more profitable than his 
bucaniering cruise ; as in the course of the following 
season he was able to visit England, intending to return 
to the bay when he had seen his friends. He sailed for 
Jamaica in April, 1678, and in the beginning of August 
reached London. 

Cutting diewood was still a profitable though a labo- 
rious trade ; and Dampier shrewdly remarks, " that though 
it is not his business to say how far the English had a 
right to follow it, yet he was sure that the Spaniards never 
received less damage from the persons who usually followed 
that trade than when they had exchanged the musket for 
the axe, and the deck of the privateer for the logwood- 
groves." 

During his short residence in England at this time Dam- 
pier must have married ; for, though a trifling matter of 
this kind is too unimportant to be entered in a seaman's 
journal, we long afterward, while he lay off the Bashee or 
Five Islands, learn that he had left a wife in England, as, 
in compliment to the Duke of Grafton, he named the north- 
ernmost of the Bashee group Grafton's Isle, " having, as 
he says, " married my wife out of his dutchess's family, ami 
ieaving her at Arlington House at my gomg abroad." 



232 DAMPIER RETURNS TO THE WEST INDIES. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Adventures with the Bucaniers. 

JDampier leaves England for Jamaica— Joins the Bucaniers— Assault 
of Porto Bello — Description of the Mosquito Indians — Their Ingenuity 
in Fishing— In using the Harpoon— Acuteness of their Senses— Their 
Customs— The Bucaniers under Captain Sharp cross the Isthmus 
of Darien — Sea-fight in the Road of Panama— Differences among the 
Bucaniers— Sharp leaves the South Sea— Retreat of Dampier and a 
Party of Bucaniers across the Isthmus — Difficulties of the Journey 
—They reach the Samballas Isles— Cruise of Dampier with the Buc- 
aniers— Adventures of Wafer among the Indians of the Darien— 
Carthagena, and the Monastery there— Dutch Governor— Wreck of 
the French Fleet— Stratagem of a French Bucanier— Pillage of Rio 
de la Hacha— Pearl-fishery— The Tropic-bird- Iguanas— Negro Doc- 
tor— Dampier's farther Adventures indicated. 

After spending five or six months with his wife and his 
friends, Dampier, in the beginning of 1679, sailed as a pas- 
senger for Jamaica, intending immediately to return to his 
old trade and companions in the Bay of Campeachy. He 
took out goods from England, which he meant to exchange 
at Jamaica for the commodities in request among the wood- 
cutters. Instead, however, of prosecuting this design, 
Dampier remained in Jamaica all that year, and by some 
means was enabled to purchase a small estate in Dorset- 
shire. This new possession he was about to visit, when 
induced to engage in a trading voyage to the Mosquito 
Shore. It promised to be profitable, and he was anxious 
to realize a little more ready money before returning to 
England to settle for life. He accordingly sent home 
the title-deeds of hi^ estate, and embarked with a Mr. 
Hobby. 

Soon after leaving Port Royal, they came to anchor in a 
bay in the west end of the island, in which they found 
Captains Coxon, Sawkins, Sharp, and " other privateers," 
as Dampier gently terms the most noted Bucanier com- 
manders of the period. Hobby's crew deserted him to a 



CAPTURE OF PORTO BELLO. 233 

Hian to join the Bucanier squadron ; and the Mosquito 
foyage being thus frustrated, Dampier "was the more 
easily persuaded to go with them too." 

Their first attempt was on Porto Bello, of which assault 
Dampier gives no account, and he might not have been 
present at the capture. Two hundred men were landed ; 
!ind, the better to prevent alarm, at such a distance from 
the town that it took them three days to march upon it, as 
during daylight they lay concealed in the woods. A negro 
gave the alarm, but not before the Bucaniers Avere so 
close upon his heels that the inhabitants were completely 
taken by surprise, and fled in every direction. The Buc- 
aniers plundered for two days and two nights, in moment-* 
ary expectation of the country rising upon them, and 
overpowering their small number ; but, from avarice and 
rapacity, they were unable to tear themselves away. 

To the shame of the Spaniards they got clear off, and 
divided shares of 160 pieces of eight a head. Inspired by 
this success, they resolved immediately to march across the 
isthmus. They knew that such strokes of good fortune as 
this at Porto Bello could not longer be looked for on the 
eastern shores of America, and for some time their imagi- 
nations had been running upon the endless wealth to be 
found in the South Seas. They remained for about a 
fortnight at the Samballas Isles, and during this time, pre- 
paratory to their grand attempt, endeavoured to conciliate 
the Indians of the Dcrien, by gifts of toys and trinkets, and 
many fair promises. They also persuaded some of the 
Mosquito-men to join them, who, on account of their ex- 
pertness in fishing, and striking turtle and manatee, besides 
their warHke qualities, were useful auxiliaries either in 
peace or war. Of this tribe, so long the friends, and, as 
they named themselves, the subjects of Britain, Dampier 
has given an exceedingly interesting account. In his 
time the clan or sept properly called Mosquito-men must 
have been very small, as he says the fighting-men did not 
amount to 100. They inhabited a tract on the coast near 
Cape Gracios Dios, stretching between Cape Honduras 
and Nicaragua. " They are," says our navigator, who 
appears partial to these Indians, " very ingenious at throw- 
ing the lance, fisgig, harpoon, or any manner of dart, 
being bred to it from their infancy; for the children, 
U3 



234 THE MOSQUITO INDIANS. 

imitating their parents, never go abroad without a lance in 
their hands, which they throw at any object till use hath 
made them masters of the art. Then they learn to put by 
a lance, arrow, or dart ; the manner is thus : — Two boys 
stand at a small distance, and dart a blunt stick at one an- 
other, each of them holding a small stick in his right hand, 
with which he strikes away that which is darted at him. Aa 
they grow in years they become more dexterous and coura- 
geous ; and then they will stand a fair mark to any one 
that will shoot arrows at them, which they wil' put by with 
a very small stick no bigger than the rod of a fowling-piece ; 
and when they are grown to be men they will guard them- 
selves from arrows though they come very thick at them, 
provided they do not happen to come two at once. They 
have extraordinary good eyes, and wi]l descry a sail at sea, 
and see any thing better than we. Their chiefest employ-* 
ment in their own country is to strike fish, turtle, or 
manatee. For this they are esteemed and coveted by all 
privateers, for one or two of them in a ship will maintain 
100 men ; so that when we careen our ships we choose 
commonly such places where there is plenty of turtle or 
manatee for these Mosquito-men to strike, and it is very 
rare to find a privateer destitute of one or more of them, 
when the commander and most of the crew are English ; 
but they do not love the French, and the Spaniards they 
hate mortally. 

" They are tall, well-made, raw-boned, lusty, strong, and 
nimble of foot, long-visaged, lank black hair, look stern, 
hard-favoured, and of a dark copper complexion. When 
they come among the privateers they get the use of fire- 
arms, and are very good marksmen. They behave them- 
selves very bold in fight, and never seem to flinch nor hang 
back ; for they think that the white men with whom they 
are know better than they do when it is best to fight, and, 
let the disadvantage of their party be never so great, they 
will • never yield nor give back while any of their party 
stand. I could never perceive any religion nor any cere- 
monies or superstitious observations among them, being 
ready to imitate us in whatsoever they saw us do at any 
time. Only they seem to fear the Devil, whom they call 
Willesaw ; and they say he often appears to some among 
themi whom our men commonly call their priests, whea 



THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 235 

they desire to speak with him on urgent business. They 
all say they must not anger him, for then he will beat 
them ; and he sometimes carries away these their priests. 
They marry but one wife, with whom they live till death 
separates them. At their first coming together the man 

makes a very small plantation They delight to 

.settle near the sea, or by some river, for the sake of striking 
fish, their beloved employment ; for within land there are 
.other Indians with whom they are always at war. After 
.-the man hath cleared a spot of land, and hath planted it, 
she seldom minds it afterward, but leaves the managing of 
it to his wife, and he goes out a-striking. Sometimes he 
seeks only for fish, at other times for turtle or manatee^ 
and v/hatever he gets he brings home to his wife, and never 
stirs out to seek for more till it is eaten. When hunger 
begins to bite, he either takes his canoe and seeks for more 
game at sea, or walks out into the woods and hunts for 
pecaree and waree, each a sort of wild hogs, or deer, amd 
seldom returns empty-handed, nor seeks any more as long 
as it lasts. Their plantations have not above twenty or 
thirty plantain-trees, a bed of yams and potatoes, a bush of 
pimento, and a small spot of pineapples, from which they 
make a sort of drink, to which they invite each other to be 
merry. Whoever of them makes pine-drink treats his 
neighbours, providing fish and flesh also." 

At their drinking-matches they often quarrelled, but the 
women prevented mischief by hiding their weapons. The 
[VLosquito-men were kind and civil to the English, who en- 
deavoured to retain the regard of such useful allies. For 
this purpose it was necessary to let them have their own 
way in every thing, and to return home the moment they 
desired it, for if contradicted there was an end of their ser- 
vices ; and though turtle and fish abounded, they would 
manage to kill nothing. They called themselves, as has 
been noticed, subjects of the King of England, and hked 
to have their chiefs nominated by the Governor of Jamaica, 
which island they often visited. Pity that in subsequent 
periods the fidelity and regard of this brave and ingenious 
tribe were so ill and ungratefully requited by their powerfiil 
and ungenerous allies. 

The Bucaniers commenced their march across the 
fathmus on the 5th April, 1680, about 330 strong, each 



236 SEA-FIGHT IN THE ROAD OF PANAMA. 

man armed with a hanger, fusil, and pistol, and provided 
Avith four cakes of the bread which they called doughboys. 
Their generalissimo was Captain Sharp ; and the men, 
marshalled in divisions, marched in something like military 
order, with flags and leaders. They were accompanied by 
those Indians of Darien who were the hereditary enemies 
of the Spaniards, whom they had subsidized with the 
hatchets, knives, beads, and toys with which they provided 
themselves at Porto Bello. These auxiliaries furnished 
them with plantains, venison, and fruit, in exchange for 
European commodities. The march was easily performed, 
and in nine days' journey they reached Santa Maria, which 
was taken without opposition, though this did not prevent 
the exercise of cruelty. The Indians cruelly and delibe- 
rately butchered many of the inhabitants. The plunder ob- 
tained falling far short of the expectations of the Bucaniers 
made them the more desirous to push forward. They 
accordingly embarked on the river of Santa Maria, which 
falls into the Gulf of St. Michael, in Indian canoes and 
pirogues, having previously, in their summary way, de- 
posed Captain Sharp, and chosen Captain Coxon com- 
mander. 

On the same day that they reached the bay, whither 
some of the Darien chiefs still accompanied them, they 
captured a Spanish vessel of thirty tons burthen, on board 
of which a large party planted themselves, happy after the 
march, and being cramped and huddled up in the canoes, 
again to tread the deck of a ship of any size. At this time 
they divided into small parties, first appointing a rendez- 
vous at the island of Chepillo, in the mouth of the river 
Cheapo. Dampier was with Captain Sharp, who went to 
the Pearl Islands in search of provisions. 

In a few days the Bucaniers mustered for the attack of 
Panama, and on the 23d April did battle for the whole day 
with three Spanish ships in the road, of which two were 
captured by boarding, while the third got off. The action 
was fierce and sanguinary ; of the Bucaniers eighteen men 
were killed, and thirty wounded. The resistance was 
vigorous and brave ; and the Spanish commander with 
many of his people fell before the action terminated. Even 
after this victory the Bucaniers did not consider themselves 
igtrong enough to attack the new city of Panama, but they 



DIFFERENCES OF THE BUCANIERS. 237 

•continued to cruise in the bay, making valuable prizes. In 
the action with the Spanish ships Captain Sawkins had 
greatly distinguished himself by courage and conduct ; and 
a quarrel breaking out among the Bucaniers while Coxon 
jeturned to the North Seas, he was chosen commander. 
He had not many days enjoyed this office, when, in an attack 
on Puebla Nueva, he was killed, leading on his men to the 
assault of a breastwork ; and on his death Sharp, the 
second in command, showing faint heart, the Bucaniers 
retreated. New discontents broke out, and the party once 
more divided, not being able to agree in the choice of a 
leader ; of those who remained in the South Sea, among 
whom was Dampier, Sharp was chosen commander. For 
some months he cruised on the coast of Peru, occasionally 
landing to pillage small towns and villages ; and on Christ- 
mas-day* anchored in a harbour of the Island of Juan 
Fernandez to rest and refit. Here they obtained abundance 
of crayfish, lobsters, and wild goats, which were numerous. 

Sharp, who had always been unpopular, was once more 
formally deposed, and Captain Watling elected in his stead. 

Having enjoyed themselves till the 12th of January, the 
Bucaniers were alarmed by the appearance of three vessels, 
which they concluded to be Spanish ships of war in pursuit 
of them. They put off to sea in all haste, in the hurry 
leaving one of their Mosquito Indians, named William, 
upon the island. 

They again cruised along the coast, and the attack of 
the Spanish settlements by hasty descent was resumed. In 
attempting to capture Arica Captain Watling was killed, 
and the Bucaniers were repulsed, having had a narrow 
escape from being all made prisoners. For want of any 
more competent leader. Sharp was once more raised to the 
command, and the South Sea had so greatly disappointed 
their hopes, that it was now agreed to return eastward by 
xecrossing the isthmus. But another quarrel broke out, 
one party would not continue under Sharp, and another 
wished to try their fortunes farther on the South Sea. It 
wa& therefore agreed that the majority should retaiii the 

* At any season of the year, when the Bucaniers, after a period of 
watching and toil, had obtained booty, provisions, and liquor, they often 
retired to some of their nearest hunting places, " to keep a Christmas," 
as they chose to term their revel. 



/ 

' 238 RETREAT ACROSS THE ISTHMUS. 

ship, the other party taking the long-boat and canoes. 
Sharp's party proved the most numerous. They cruised 
in the South Sea, on the coast of Patagonia and Chili, for 
the remainder of the season of 1681, and early in the fol- 
lowing year returned to the West Indies by doubling Cape 
Horn, but durst not land at any of the English settlements. 
Sharp, soon afterward going home, was tried in England 
with several of his men for piracy, but escaped conviction. 
In the minority which broke off from Sharp was William 
Dampier, who appears at this time to have been little dis- 
tinguished among his companions. The party consisted 
of forty-four Europeans and two Mosquito Indians. Their 
object was to recross the isthmus, — an undertaking of no 
small difficulty, from the nature of the country and the 
hostility of the Spaniards. Before they left the ship they 
sifted a large quantity of flour, prepared chocolate with 
sugar, as provision, and entered into a mutual engagement, 
that if any man sank on the journey he should be shot by 
his comrades, as but one man falling into the hands of the 
Spaniards must betray the others to certain destruction. 
In a fortnight after leaving the ship near the Island of 
Plata, they landed at the mouth of a river in the Bay of St. 
Michael, where, taking out all their provisions, arms, and 
clothing, they sank their boat. While they spent a few 
hours in preparing for the inland march, the Mosquito-men 
caught fish, which afforded one plentiful meal to the whole 
party; after which they commenced their journey late in 
the afternoon of the 1st of May. At night they constructed 
huts, in which they slept. On the 2d they struck into 
an Indian path, and reached an Indian village, where they 
obtained refreshments ; but were uneasy on understanding 
the closeness of their vicinity to the Spaniards, who had 
placed ships at the mouths of the navigable rivers to look 
out for them, and intercept their return eastward. Next 
day, with a hired Indian guide, they proceeded, and reached 
the dwelling of a native, who received them with sullen 
churlishness, which in ordinary times the Bucaniers would 
ill have brooked ; " though this," says Dampier, " was 
neither a time nor place to be angry with the Indians, all 
.our lives lying at their hands." Neither the temptation of 
dollars, hatchets, nor long khives would operate on this 
intractable Indian, till one of the seamen, taking a sky- 



CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY. 239 

coloured petticoat from his "bag, threw it over the lady of 
the house, who was so much delighted with the gift, that 
she soon wheedled her husband into better humour ; and he 
now not only gave them information, but found them a guide. 
It rained hard and frequently on both days, but they were still 
too near the Spanish garrisons and guard ships tra mind the 
weather or to dally by the way. The country was found 
difficult and fatiguing, without any trace of a path, the 
Indians guiding themselves by the rivers, which they were 
sometimes compelled to cross twenty or thirty times in a 
day. Rainy weather, hardship, and hunger soon expelled 
all fear of the Spaniards, who were, besides, not likely to 
follow their foes into these intricate solitudes. 

On the 5th day they reached the dwelling of a young 
Spanish Indian,— a civilized person, who had lived with 
the Bishop of Panama, and spoke the Spanish language 
fluently. He received them kindly, and though unable to 
provide for the wants of so many men, freely gave what he 
had. At this place they rested to dry their clothes and am- 
munition, and to clean their firearms. While thus employed 
Mr. Wafer, the surgeon of the Bucaniers, who had been 
among the malecontents, had his knee so much scorched 
by an accidental explosion of gunpowder, that, after drag- 
ging himself forward during another day, he was forced to 
remain behind his companions, together with one or two 
more who had been exhausted by the march. Among the 
Indians of the Darien Wafer remained for three months, 
and he has left an account, which is considered the best 
we yet possess, of those tribes. 

The march was continued in very bad weather, this being 
the commencement of the rainy season, and thunder and 
lightning frequent and violent. As the bottoms of the 
valleys and the rivers' banks were now overflowed, instead of 
constructing huts every night for their repose, the travellers 
were often obliged to seek for a resting-place, and to sleep 
under trees. To add to their hardships their slaves de- 
serted, carrying oiF whatever they could lay their hands 
upon. 

Before leaving the ship, foreseeing the difficulties of the 
Journey, and the necessity of perpetually fording the rivers, 
Dampier had taken the precaution to deposite his journal 
in a bamboo, closed at both ends with wax. In this way 



^40 CRtJISE OF THE BIJCANIERS. 

his papers were secured from wet, while the journalist fre- 
quently swam across the rivers which so greatly impeded 
the progress of the march. In crossing a river where the 
current ran very strong, one man, who carried his fortune 
of 300 dollars on his back, was swept down the stream and 
drowned ; and so worn out were his comrades, that, fond 
as they were of gold, they would not at this time take the 
trouble to look for or burden themselves with his. It was 
the eighteenth day of the march before the Bucaniers 
reached the river Conception, where they obtained Indian 
canoes, in which they proceeded to La Sound's Key, one 
of the Samballas Islands, which were much frequented by 
the Bucaniers. Here 'they entered a French privateer, 
commanded by Captain Tristian ; and, with better faith 
than Bucaniers usually displayed, generously rewarded 
their Indian guides with money, toys, and hatchets, and 
dismissed them. The Bucaniers of this time were some- 
what less ferocious in manners than those under Morgan 
and Lolonnois, though it never entered into their thoughts 
that there could be any wrong in robbing the Spaniards* 
Sawkins and Watling maintained stricter discipline than 
had been customary in former periods, approximating their 
discipline and regulations to those of privateers, or ships 
of war. They even made the Sabbath be observed with 
outward signs of respect. On one occasion, when Sawkins's 
men, who like all Bucaniers were inveterate gamblers, 
played on Sunday, the captain flung the dice overboard. 

In two days after Dampier and his friends had gone on 
hoard the French vessel, it left La Sound's for Springer's 
Key, another of the Samballas Islands, where eight Buc- 
anier vessels then lay, of which the companies had formed 
the design of crossing to Panama. From this expedition 
they were, however, diverted by the dismal report of the 
newly-arrived travellers ; and the assault of other places 
was taken into consideration. From Trinidad to Vera 
Cruz the Bucaniers had now an intimate knowledge of 
every town upon the coast, and for twenty leagues into the 
interior ; and acquaintance with the strength and wealth 
of each, and with the number and quality of the inhabitants. 
The preliminary consultations now held lasted for a week, 
the French and Enghsh not agreeing; but at last they 
sailed for Carpenter's River, going first towards the Isle 



ADVENTURES OF WAFER. 241 

of St. Andreas. In a gale the ships were separated ; and 
Dampier, being left with a French captain, conceived such 
a dislike to his shipmates, that he and his fellow-travellers 
in crossing the isthmus induced a countryman of their 
own, named Captain Wright, to fit up and arm a small 
vessel, with which they cruised about the coast in search 
of provisions, still, however, keeping their jackals, the 
Mosquito-men, who caught turtle while the Bucaniers 
hunted in the woods for pecaree, waree, deer, quaums, par- 
rots, pigeons, and curassow birds,* and also monkeys, which 
in times of hardship they esteemed a delicate morsel.. At 
one place several of the men were suddenly taken ill from 
eating land-crabs which had fed upon the fruit of the man- 
chineel-tree. All animals that fed on this fruit were 
avoided by the freebooters as unwholesome, if not poison- 
ous. In selecting unknown wild-fruits the Bucaniers 
were guided by the birds, freely eating whatever kind had 
been pecked, but no bird touched the fruit of the manchineel. 
On returning to La Sound's Key from this cruise, they 
were joined by Mr. Wafer. He had been for three months 
kindly entertained by an Indian chief, who had offered him 
his daughter in marriage, and grudged him nothing save 
the liberty of going away. From this kind but exacting 
chief he escaped under pretence of going in search of Eng- 
lish dogs to be employed in hunting, the Indian being^ 

* Of the Curassow birds (genus Crax), so named, we presume, from 
Curassow in Guiana, several species are known to naturalists. They 
belong to the gallinaceous order, and are of large size, easy domestica- 
tion, and much esteemed for the flavour of their flesh. They feed on 
fruits and seeds, and build as well as perch on trees. Many of thera 
are distinguished by a singular contortion in the trachea or windpipe, of 
which an account was published by Dr. Latham in the fourth volume of 
the Linn. Trmis. The crested Curassow {Crax alector) is a beautiful 
bird, nearly three feet in length. It inhabits Guiana, Mexico, Brazil, 
and Paraguay. A curious variety, or hybrid, is described by Temminck 
as having sprung from the intermixture of this species with the Crax 
rubra. This latter species lias likewise a fine crest, and is nearly as 
\arge as a turkey. The globe-bearing Curassow {C-^ax giobicera) is 
rharacterized by a remarkable tubercle at the base of the beak. The 
tvhole of the plumage is of a fine black, with a tinge of green ; the abdo- 
inen, under tail-coverts, and tips of the tail-feathers, are white. It 
inhabits Guiana. A new species, called the carunculated Curassow 
{Crax carunculata), was discovered and described by M. Temminck. 
!the upper parts of the plumage are black with green reflections ; the 
abdomen is of a chestnut colour. It measures about three feet in length, 
and inhabits Brazil. 

X 



242 MONASTERY AT CARTttAGENA. 

aware of the superiority which dogs gave the Spaniards in 
the chase. Mr. Wafer had been painted by the women of 
the Darien, and his own clothes being worn out, he wad 
npw dressed, or rather undressed, Uke the natives ; whom, 
under this disguise, he resembled so much, that it was 
some time before Dampier recognised his old acquaintance 
the surgeon. 

From the Samballas they cruised towards^ Carthagena, 
which they passed, having a fair view of the city, and cast- 
ing longing eyes upon the rich monastery on the steep hill- 
rising behind it. This monastery, dedicated to the Virgin, 
is, says Dampier, " a place of incredible wealth, by reason 
of the offerings made here continually ; and for this reason 
often in danger of being visited by the privateers, did not 
the neighbourhood of Carthagena keep them in awe. 'Tis, 
in short, the very Loretto of the West Indies, and hath in- 
numerable miracles relatei of it* Any misfortune that 
befalls the privateers is attributed to this lady's doing ( 
and the Spaniards report, that she was abroad that night 
the Oxford man-of-war was blown up at the Isle of Vaca, 
and that she came home all wet ; as belike she often re- 
turns with her clothes dirty and torn with passing through 
woods and bad ways when she has been upon an expedi- 
tion, deserving doubtless a new suit for such eminent pieces 
of service." 

The company of Captain Wright pillaged several small 
places about Rio de la Hacha and the Rancheries, which 
was the head-quarters of a small Spanish pearl-fishery. 
The pearl-banks lay about four or five leagues oiF the shore. 
In prosecuting this fishery, the Indian divers, first an- 
choring their boats, dived, and brought up full the baskets- 
previously let down ; and when their barks were filled,^ 
they went ashore, and the oysters were opened by the old' 
men, women and children, under the inspection of a Span- 
ish overseer. 

In a short time afterward, the Bucaniers captured, after 
a smart engagement, an armed ship of twelve guns and 
forty men, laden with sugar, tobacco, and marmalade, boun& 
to Carthagena from St. Jago in Cuba. From the disposal ' 
of this cargo, some insight is afforded into the mysteries of 
bucaniering. It was offered first to the Dutch governor 
of Curasao, who having, as he said, a great trade with the 



WRECK OF THE FRENCH FLEET. 243 

Spaniards, could not openly admit the freebooters to this 
island, though he directed them to go to St. Thomas, which" 
belonged to the Danes, whither he would send a sloop with 
such commodities as the Bucaniers required, and take the 
sugar off their hands. The rovers, however, decHned the 
terms offered by the cautious Dutchman, and sailed from 
.St. Thomas to another Dutch colony, where they found a 
better merchant. From hence they sailed for the Isle of 
Aves, which, as its name imports, abounded in birds, espe- 
cially boobies and men-of-war birds. The latter bird was 
about the size of a kite, black, with a red throat. It lives 
on fish, yet never lights in the water ; but, soaring aloft 
like the kite, " when it sees its prey, darts down, snatches 
it, and mounts, never once touching the water." 

On a coral reef off the south side of this island the 
Count d'Estrdes had shortly before lost the French fleet. 
Firing guns in the darkness, to warn the ships that fol- 
lowed him to avoid the danger on which he had run, they 
imagined that he was engaged with the enemy, and crowd- 
ing all sail, ran upon destruction. The ships held together 
next day till part of the men got on shore, though many 
perished in the wreck. Dampier relates, that those of the 
ordinary seamen who got to land died of fatigue and famine, 
while those who had been Bucaniers and were wrecked 
here, " being used to such accidents, lived merrily ; and if 
they had gone to Jamaica with 30/. in their pockets, could 
not have enjoyed themselves more ; for they kept a gang 
by themselves, and watched when the ships broke up to get 
the goods that came out of them ; and though much was 
staved against the rocks, yet abundance of wine and brandy 
floated over the reef, where they waited to take it up.'' 
The following anecdote of the wrecked crew is horribly 
striking : — " There were about forty Frenchmen on board 
one of the ships, in which was good store of liquor, till the 
after-part of her broke, and floated over the reef, and was 
carried away to sea, with all the men drinking and singing, 
who, being in drink, did not mind the danger, but were 
never heard of afterward." 

In a %hort time after, this island was the scene of a clever 
bucaniering trick, which Dampier relates with some glee. 
The wreck of the French fleet had left Aves Island a per- 
fect arsenal of masts, yards, timbers, and so fortbj and 



244 TRICK OF A FRENCH BUCANIER. 

hither the Bucaniers repaired to careen and refit their 
ships, and among others Captain Pain, a Frenchman. A 
Dutch vessel of twenty guns, despatched from Cura9ao to 
fish up the guns lost on the reef, descried the privateer, 
vsrhich she resolved to capture before engaging in the busi- 
ness of her voyage. The Frenchman abandoned his ship, 
which he saw no chance of preserving, but brought ashore 
some of his guns, and resolved to defend himself as long as 
possible. While his men were landing the guns, he per- 
ceived at a distance a Dutch sloop entering the road, and 
at evening found her at anchor at the west end of the island. 
During the night, with two canoes, he boarded and took 
this sloop, found considerable booty, and made off with 
her, leaving his empty vessel as a prize to the Dutch man- 
of-war. 

At this island Dampier's party remained for some time, 
careened the- largest ship, scrubbed a sugar-prize formerly 
taken, and recovered two guns of the wreck of d'Estr^es's 
fleet. They afterward went to the Isles of Rocas, where 
they fell in with a French ship of 36 guns, which bought 
ten tons of their sugar. The captain of this vessel was a 
knight of Malta. To Dampier both he and his lieutenant 
were particularly attentive and kind, and offered him every 
encouragement to enter the French navy. This he declined 
from feelings of patriotism. 

Here he saw, besides men-of-war birds, boobies, and nod- 
dies, numbers of the tropic-bird.* It was as big as a 
pigeon, and round and plump as a partridge, all white, save 
two or three light-gray feathers in the wing. One long 
feather or quill, about seven inches in length, growing out 
of the rump, is all the tail these birds have. They are never 
seen far without the tropics, but are met with at a great dis- 
tance from land. After taking in what water could be ob- 
tained, they left Rocas, and went to Salt Tortuga, so called 
to distinguish it from Dry Tortuga near Cape Florida, and 
from the Tortuga of the first Bucaniers near Hispaniola, 
which place was now, however, better known as Petit 

* There are several species of tropic-bird, but the one alluded to above 
is the ■phaeton ethereus of naturalists, remarkable for its restriction to the 
regions from which it derives its English name. It feeds on fish, and is 
characterized by a singular degree of ease and gracefulness in its mode 
of flight. It inhabits the Atlantic Ocean and the South S^a, and its pure 
and pearly plumage is distinguished by a lustre like that of satin. 



TGliANA GUINEA-WORM. 245 

<Tuaves. They expected to sell the remainder of their sugar 
to the English vessels which came here for salt ; but not 
succeeding, they sailed for Blanco, an island north of Mar- 
garita, and thirty leagues from the main. It was an unin- 
iiabil^d island, flat and low, being mostly savanna, with a 
few wooded spots, in which flourished the lignum vita. 
Iguanas, or guanoes, as they were commonly called in the 
"West Indies, abounded on Blanco. They resembled the 
lizard species, but were bigger, about the size of the small 
of a man's leg. From the hind-quarter the tail tapers to 
the point. If seized by the tail near the extremity, it broke 
oft' at a joint, and the animal escaped. They are amphibious 
•creatures. Both their eggs and flesh were highly esteemed 
by the Bucaniers, who made soup of the latter for their sick. 
There were many species found here living on land or water, 
in the swamps, among bushes, or on trees. Green turtle 
frequented this island in numbers. 

From Bianco they returned to Salt Tortuga, and went 
from thence after four days to the coast of the Caraccas on 
sthe main. 

While cruising on this coast, they landed in some of the 
bays, and took seven or eight tons of cocoa, and afterward 
three barks, — one laden with hides, another with brandy and 
earthenware, and a third with European goods. With these 
prizes they returned to the Rocas to divide the spoil ; after 
which Dampier and other nineteen out of a company of 
«ixty took one of the captured vessels, and with their share 
of the plunder held their course direct for Virginia, which 
was reached in July, 1682. 

Of the thirteen months which our navigator spent in Vir- 
ginia he has left no record ; but from another portion of his 
memoirs it may be gathered that he suffered from sickness 
during most of the time. His disease was not more singu- 
lar than was the mode of cure practised by a negro Escula- 
pius, whose appropriate fee was a white cock. The disease 
was what is called the Guinea-worm. " These worms," 
says Dampier, " are no bigger than a large brown thread, 
,but, as I have heard, five or six yards long ; and if it break 
in drawing out, that part which remains in the flesh willpu- 
trify, and endangei the" patient's life, and be very painfiiL 
;I was in great torment before it came out. My leg and 
.sgikle swelled, and looked, very red and , angry, and I kept ^ 



246 NEGRO DOCTOR OF VIRGINIA. 

plaster to it to bring it to a head. Drawing off my plaster, 
out came about three inches of the worm, and my pain 
abated presently. Till then I was ignorant of my malady, 
and the gentlewoman at whose house I lodged took it (the 
worm) for a nerve ; but I knew well enough what it was, 
and presently rolled it upon a small stick. After that I 
opened it every morning and evening, and strained it out 
gently, about two inches at a time, not without pain." The 
negro doctor first stroked the place affected, then applied 
some rough powder to it like tobacco-leaves crumbled, next 
muttered a spell, blew upon the part three times, waved his 
hands as often, and said that in three days it would be well. 
It proved so, and the stipulated fee of the white cock was 
gladly paid. 

The next adventure of Dampier was the circumnavigation 
of the globe,-^a voyage and ramble extending to about eight 
years, which in point of interest and variety has never yet 
been surpassed. To it we dedicate the following chapter. 



CHAPTER X. 

Circumnavigation of the Globe. 

Dampier's New Voyafre— Cape de Verd Isles — Bachelor's Delight— Falk- 
land Isles— Mosquito William — Nautical Remarks of Dampier— Junc- 
tion of Cook and Eaton — The Galapagos Islands — Death of Cook — 
Escape of the Bucaniers — Descent at Amapalla — Spanish Indians — 
The Bucaniers separate— La Plata and Manta— The Cygnet joins the 
Bucaniers— Descent on Paita — Attempt on Guayaquil — Dampier's 
Scheme of working the Mines — Indians of St. Jago — The Bucaniers 
watch tne Plate-fleet— Battle in the Bay of Panama — Assault of Leon 
— Dampier remains in the Cygnet— His Sickness — Crosses the Pacific 
— Island of Guahan — Mindanao — Its Customs — The Bucaniers desert 
Swan— Future Cruise of the Cygnet— Pulo Condore— The Bashee 
Isles — Character and Manners of the Islanders — Cruise to New-Hol- 
land—The Country and People — The Nicobar Islands— Dampier leaves 
the Bucaniers — His Voyage to Acheen — Voyages with Captains Bowry 
and Weldon — Remains at Bencoolen — Prince Jeoly — Dampier's Return 
to England— Publication of his Voyages— Employment by the Admi- 
ralty. 

Among the companions ofDampier in hisjourney across the 
isthmus, and in his subsequent cruise, was Mr. John Cook, 
a Creole, bom in St. Christopher's, and a man of good ca- 



STRATAGEM OF COOK. 247 

pacity. He had acted as quarter-master, or second in com- 
mand, under Captain Yanky, a French Flibustier, who at 
this time held a commission as a privateer. By the ordi- 
nary laws of the Bucaniers, when a prize fit for a piratical 
cruise was taken, the second in command was promoted to 
it, and in virtue of this title Cook obtained an excellent 
Spanish ship. At this, however, the French commanders 
were secretly discontented, and on the first opportunity they 
seized the ship, plundered the crew, who were Englishmen, 
of their arms and goods, and turned them ashore. The 
French captain, Tristian, either took compassion on some 
of the number, or hoped to find them serviceable ; for he 
carried eight or ten of them with him to Petit Guaves, 
among whom were Cook and Davis. They had not lain 
long here when Captain Tristian and part of his men being 
one day on shore, the English party, in revenge of the late 
spoliation, overmastered the rest of the crew, took the ship, 
and, sending the Frenchmen ashore, sailed for Isle a la 
Vache, where they picked up a straggling crew of English 
Bucaniers, and before they could be overtaken sailed for 
Virginia, where Dampier now was, taking two prizes by the 
way, one of which was a French ship laden with wine. 
Having thus dexterously swindled Tristian out of his ship, 
which might, however, be considered as but a fair act of re- 
prisal, and having afterward committed open piracy on the 
French commerce, the West Indies was no longer a safe 
latitude for these English Bucaniers. The wines were 
therefore sold with the other goods and two of the ships ; 
and the largest prize, which carried eighteen guns, was 
new-named the Revenge, and equipped and provisioned for 
a long voya,ge. Among her crew of seventy men were 
almost all the late fellow-travellers across the isthmus, in- 
cluding William Dampier, Lionel Wafer, the surgeon, Am- 
brose Cowley, who has left an account of the voyage, and 
the commander, Captain John Cook. Before embarking on 
this new piiatical expedition, they all subscribed certain 
rules for maintaining discipline and due subordination, and 
for the observance of sobriety on their long voyage. 

They sailed from the Chesapeake on the 23d August, 
1683 ; captured a Dutch vessel, in which they found six 
casks of wine and a quantity of provisions ; and near the 
Cape de Verd Islands encountered a storm which raged for 



248 AMBERGRIS FLAMINGOES. 

fL week, " drencliirig them all like so many drowned rats."* 
After this gale they had the winds and weather both favour- 
3,ble, and anchored at the Isle of Sal, one of the Cape de 
Verd group, so named from its numerous salt-ponds. 

A Portuguese at this place, by affecting the mystery which 
gives so much zest to clandestine bargains, prevailed with 
one of the Bucaniers to purchase from him a lump of what 
he called anjbergris, which Dampier believed to be spurious. 
Of the genuine substance Dampier relates that he was once 
.shown a piece which had been broken off a lump weighing 
100 lbs., found in a sandy bay of an island in the Bay of 
Honduras. It was found by a person of credit (a Mr. Bar- 
ker of London), lying dry above high-water mark, and in it 
a multitude of beetles. t It was of a dusky black colour, 
the consistence of mellow ordinary cheese, and of a very 
fragrant scent. 

At the Isle of Sal, Dampier first saw the flamingo. It was 
in shape like the heron, but larger, and of a red colour. 
The flamingoes kept together in large flocks, and, standing 
side by side by the ponds at which they fed, looked at a dis- 
tance like a iiew brick wgill. Their flesh was lean and black, 

* In this dreadful storm, it is related in one edition of Dampier's works 
that the ship was saved by an odd but very simple expedient. The ship 
was scudding before wind and sea under bare poles, when by the inad- 
vertence of the master she was broached to, and lay in the trough of the 
sea ; the waves at that time running tremendously high, and threatening 
to overwhelm her, so that if one had struck on the deck she must have 
foundered. The person who had committed this nearly fatal mistake 
was in a statp of distr9,ctioa, and roared for any one to cut away the 
mizzenmast, to give the ship a chance of righting. All was confusion 
and dismay ; the captain and the oflcer second in command objecting to 
this certainly hazardous, and probably useless attempt to save them 
. selves, The whole crew had given themselves up for lost, when a sea 
man called to Dampier to ascend the fore-shrouds with him ; this the 
man alleged might make the ship wear, as he had seen the plan succeed 
before now. As he spoke he mounted, and Dampier followed him 
They went half-shroijds up, spread out the ^aps of their coats, and in 
three minutes the ship wore, though such had been the violence of the 
tempest, that the rnainsail having got loose, as many men as could lie on 
it, assisted by all on deck, and though the mainyard was nearly level with 
the deck, were not able to furl it. 

t The substance called ambergris, at one time regarded by chymists 
as a kind of petrolium or mineral oil, is now ascertained to be an animal 
production, which has its origin in the intestinal canal of certain species 
of the whale-tribe. The beetles alluded to in the text were no doubJ 
accidental, and their occurrence in the ambergris is accounted ,for by itjs 
position above high-wat»^r mark. 



BUCANIER STRATAGEM. 249 

but not unsavoury nor fishy-tasted. A knob of fat at the 
root of the tongue "makes a dish of flamingoes' tongues fit 
for a prince's table." 

From this island they went to St. Nicholas, where the 
governor and his attendants, though not quite so tattered as 
those seen at the Isle of Sal, were not very splendidly 
equipped. Here they dug wells, watered the ship, scrubbed 
its bottom, and went to Mayo to obtain provisions ; but 
were not suffered to land, as about a week before Captain 
Bond, a pirate of Bristol, had entrapped the governor and 
some of his people, and carried them away. 

From the Cape de Verd Isles the Revenge intended to 
keep a direct course to the Straits of Magellan ; but by ad- 
verse weather was compelled to steer for the Guinea coast, 
which was made in November, near Sierra Leone. They 
anchored in the mouth of the river Sherborough, near a large 
Danish ship, which they afterward took by stratagem. 
While in sight of the Dane, which felt no alarm at the ap- 
pearance of a ship of the size of the Revenge, most of the 
Bucanier crew remained under deck, no more of the hands 
appearing above than were necessary to manage the sails. 
Their bold design was to board the ship without discovering 
any sign of their intention ; and the Revenge advanced 
closely, still wearing the resemblance of a weakly-manned 
merchant-vessel. When quite close. Captain Cook in a loud 
voice commanded the helm to be put one way, while by pre- 
vious orders and a preconcerted plan the steersman shifted 
it into a quite opposite direction ; and the Revenge, as if by 
accident, suddenly fell on board the Dane, which by this 
dexterous manoeuvre was captured with only the loss of five 
men, though a ship of double their whole force. She car- 
ried thirty-six guns, and was equipped and victualled for a 
long voyage. 

This fine vessel was by the exulting Bucaniers named 
the Bachelor's Delight ; and they immediately burnt the Re- 
venge that she " might tell no tales," sent their prisoners on 
shore, and steered for Magellan's Straits.* 

On the voyage to the straits the Bachelor's Delight en- 
countered frequent tornadoes, accompanied by thunder, 

* It is proper to notice that we owe these particulars to the narrative 
of Cowley. Dampier does not mention this stratagem, which he must 
on reflection have thought little to the credit of the contrivers. 



250 THE FALKLAND ISLANDS. 

lightning, and rain. Many of the men were seized with 
fever, and one man died. Having little fresh animal food 
of any kind, they caught sharks during the calms between 
the gusts of the tornadoes, which they prepared by first 
boiling, and afterward stewing them with pepper and vine- 
gar. About the middle of January they lost one of the sur- 
geons, who was greatly lamented, as there now remained 
but one for the long voyage which was meditated. On the 
2Sth they made John Davis's Southern Islands, or the Falk- 
land Isles, — then, however, more generally known as the 
Sebald de Weert Islands. 

In the course of their voyage Dampier, who possessed 
mor6 geographical and nautical knowledge than his com- 
panions, had been persuading Captain Cook to stop here to 
water, and afterward to prosecute the voyage to Juan Fer- 
nandez by doubling Cape Horn, avoiding the straits alto- 
gether, which, he judiciously says, " I knew would prove 
very dangerous to us, the rather because our men being pri- 
vateers, and so more wilful and less under command, would 
not be so ready to give a watchful attendance in a passage 
o little known. For although these men were more under 
eommand than I had ever seen any privateers, yet I could 
not expect to find them at a moment's call on coming to an 
anchor or weighing anchor." The Falkland Islands are 
described by Dampier as rocky and barren, without trees, 
and having only some bushes upon them. Shoals of small 
lobsters, which coloured the sea red in spots for a mile round, 
were seen here. They were only of the size of the tip of a 
man's little finger, yet perfect in shape, and naturally of the 
colour that other lobsters assume after they are boiled. 

The advice of Dampier was not taken, but westerly winds 
prevented Cook from making the entrance of the straits, and 
on the 6th February they fell in with the Straits of Le 
Maire, high land on both sides, and the passage very nar- 
row. They ran in for four miles, when a strong tide set- 
ting in northward " made such a short cockling sea," which 
ran every way, as if in a place where two opposing tides 
meet, sometimes breaking over the poop, sometimes over 
the waist and the bow, and tossing the Bachelor's Delight 
" like an egg-shell." 

In the same evening they had a breeze from W. N. W., 
bpre sway eastward, aijd, having the wind fresh all night, 



SOtJTH SEA MOSQUITO WILLIAM* 251 

passed the east end of Staten Island next day. Our navi- 
gator on the 7th at noon found the hititude to be 54° 52' S.^ 
and the same night they lost sight of Tierra del Fuego, and 
saw no other land till they entered the South Sea. In 
doubling Cape Horn they were so fortunate as to catch 
twenty-three barrels of rain-Watef, besides an. abundant 
supply for present consumption. 

On the 3d March they entered the South Sea with a fair 
fresh breeze, which from the south had shifted to the east- 
ward. On the 9th they were in latitude 47° 10', and on the 
17th in latitude 36°, still bearitig for Juan Fernandez. Oji 
the 19th a strange sail was seen to the southward bearing 
lull upon them, which was mistaken for a Spaniard, but 
proved to be the Nicholas of London, commanded by Cap* 
lain Eaton, fitted out as a trader, but in reality a Bucanier 
ship. Captain Eaton came on board the Bachelor's Delight, 
related his adventures, and, like a true brother, gave the 
company water, while they spared him a supply of bread and 
beef. Together they now steered for Juan Fernandez, and 
on the 23d anchored in a bay at the south end of the island, 
in twenty-five fathoms Avater. From Eaton they had heard 
of another London vessel, the Cygnet, commanded by Cap- 
tain Swan, which was really a trader, and held a license 
from the then lord high admiral of England, the Duke of 
York, afterward James IL With this ship the Nicholas had 
entered the South Sea, but they had been separated in a 
gale. 

It may be remembered, that when Captain Watling and 
his company escaped from Juan Fernandez three years 
before, they had left a Mosquito Indian on the island, who 
Was out hunting goats when the alarm came. This Mos- 
quito-man, named William, was the first and the true Rob- 
inson Crusoe, the original heTmit of this romantic solitude. 
Immediately on approaching the island, D ampler and a few 
«f William's old friends, together with a Mosquito-man 
named Robin, put off for the shore, where they soon per- 
ceived William standing ready to give thera welcome. 
From the heights he had seen the ships on the preceding 
day, and knowing them to be English vessels by the way 
they were worked, he had killed three goats, and dressed 
them with cabbage of the cabbage^tree, to have a feast ready 
on the arrival of the ships. How great was his dehglitj a» 



252 ADVENTURES OF THE MOSQUITO-MAN. 

the boat neared the shore, when Robin leaped to the landy 
and running up to him, fell flat on his face at his feet. 
William raised up his countryman, embraced him, and in 
turn prostrated himself at Robin's feet, who lifted him up, 
and they renewed their embraces. " We stood with plea- 
sure," says Dampier, " to behold the surprise, tenderness,, 
and solemnity of their interview, which was exceedingly 
affecting on both sides ; and when these their ceremonies 
of civility were over, we also that stood gazing at them 
drew near, each of us embracing him we had found here, 
who was overjoyed to see so many of his old friends, come 
hither, as he thought, purposely to fetch him." 

At the time William was abandoned, he had with hiin in 
the wootls his gun and knife, and a small quantity of powder 
and shot. As soon as his ammunition was expended, by 
notching his knife into a saw, he cut up the barrel of his 
gun into pieces, which he converted into harpoons, lances, 
and a long knife. To accomplish this he struck fire with 
his gun-flint and a piece of the barrel of hia gun, which he 
hardened for this purpose in a way he had seen practised 
by the Bucani-^ts. In this fire he heated his pieces of iron, 
hammered them out with stones, sawed them with his 
jagged knife, or grinded them to an edge, and tempered 
them ; " which was no more than these Mosquito-men 
were accustomed to do in their own country, where they 
make their own fishing and striking instruments without 
either forge or anvil, though they spend a great deal of time 
about them." Thus furnished, William supplied himself 
with goats' flesh and fish, though, till his instruments were 
formed, he had been compelled to eat seal. He built his 
house about a half-mile from the shore, and lined it snugly 
with goat-skins, with which he also spread his couch or 
harbecuCy which was raised two feet from the floor. As his 
clothes wore out, he supplied this want also with goat-skins, 
and when first seen he wore nothing save a goat-skin 
about his waist. Though the Spaniards, who had learned 
that a Mosquito-man was left here, had looked for William 
several times, he had always, by retiring to a secret place, 
contrived to elude their search. 

The island of Juan Fernandez was hilly, and intersected 
by small pleasant valleys ; the mountains were y»artly savanna 
and partly woodland; the grass of the flat places being 



NAtjTiCAL REMARKS OF DAMPlfiR. 25S 

delicate, and kindly, of a short thick growth, unlike the 
coarse sedgy grass of tiie savannas of the West Indies. 
The cabbage-tree was found here, and well-grown timber 
of different kinds, though none that was fit for maiitSi 
There were in the island two bays, both at the east end, 
where ships might anchor, and into each of them flowed a 
rivulet of good water. Water was also found in every 
valley. Goats, which according to Dampier were originally 
brought to the island by the discoverer, were now^ found in 
large flocks, and seals swarmed about the island " as if they 
had no other place in the world to live in, evgry bay and rock 
being full of them." Sea-hons* were also numerous, and 
diflferent kinds of tish were found. The seats were of dif- 
ferent colours,— blacky gray, and dun, with a fine thick 
short fur. Millions of them were seen sittiiig in the bays^ 
going or coming into the sea, or, as they lay at the top of 
the waves, sporting and sunning themselves, covering the 
water for a mile or two from the shore. When they come 
out of the sea " they bleat like sheep for their young ; and 
though they pass through hundreds of others' young, yet 
they will not suffer any of them to suck." The sea-lion is 
shaped like a seal, but is six times as hig, with " great 
goggle eyes," and teeth three inches long, of which the 
Bucaniers sometimes made dice. 

The Bucaniers remained for sixteen days at this island 
getting in provisions, and for the recovery of the sick and 
those affected with scurvy, who were placed on shore, and 
fed with vegetables and fresh goats' flesh, which regimen 
was found beneficiah On the 8th April they sailed for the 
American coast, which they approached in 24P S. ; but 
stood off at the distance of foilrteen or fifteen leagues, that 
they might not be observed from the high grounds by the 
Spaniards. 

The nautical and geographical observations of Dailipief 
in this tra^t of the Pacific are important. The land from 
the 24th to the 10th degree south was of prodigious height. 
" It Ues generally in ridges parallel to the shore, and thre9 
or four ridges, one within another, each surpassing the? 
other in height 5 those that are farthest within land being 

* The leonine seal, so frequently nientioned in ttiis volume as the S6S^ 
ikm seen by Cavendish and others. 
Y 



254 COOK AND EATON JOIN FORCES. 

much higher than the others. They always appear blue? 
when seen at sea." To the excessive height of the 
mountain-ridges Dampier imputes the want of rivers in 
this region. 

The first capture of the Bucaniers, made on the 3d of 
May, was a Spanish ship bound to Lima, laden with timber 
from Guayaquil ; from which they learned that it was 
known in the settlements that pirates were on the coast. 

On the 9th they anchored at the isle of Lobos de la Mar 
with their prize. Lobos de la Mar is properly a cluster of 
small islets, divided by narrow channels. They are sandy 
and barren, destitute of water, and frequented by soa-fowl, 
penguins, and a small black fowl that our navigator never 
saw save here and at Juan Fernandez, which made holes in 
the sand for a night-habitation.* This black fowl made 
good meat. At this place the ships were scrubbed, and 
the prisoners rigidly examined, that from their information 
the voyagers might guide their future proceedings. Trux- 
illo was the town at last fixed upon for making a descent. 
The companies of both ships were mustered, for Eaton and 
Cook had now agreed to hunt in couples, and the arms 
were proved. The men amounted to 108 fit to bear arms, 
besides the sick. Before they sailed on this expedition 
three ships were seen steering northward. Cook stood 
after one of them, which made for the land, and Eaton pur- 
sued the other two to sea, and captured them on the same 
day. They contained cargoes of flour from Lima for the 
city of Panama, whither they carried intelligence from the 
governor of the formidable Bucanier force which now 
threatened the coast. One of the ships carried eight tons* 
of quince-marmalade. The Bucaniers were deeply morti- 
fied to learn that they had narrowly missed a prize contain- 
ing 800,000 pieces of eight, which had been landed at an 
intermediate port, upon a rumour of English ships being 
cruising off the coast of Peru. 

The design against Truxillo was now abandoned, as they 
learned that it had lately been fortified, and a Spanish gar- 
rison established for its defence ; and on the evening of the 
19th they sailed with their flour-prizes for the Galapagos 
Islands, which they descried on the 31st, "some appearing 

• This is described by Woodes Rogers'as a kind of teal. 



THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. 255 

on the lee-bow, some on the weather-bow, and others right 
ahead." The Galapagos Islands, mentioned in page 50 of 
this volume, were still very little known at the time the 
Bucaniers made this visit. They lie under the equator, 
are numerous, and were uninhabited, and abounded in 
iguanas aixd large land-turtle ; otherwise they are rocky 
and barren, and mostly destitute of water,* though in some 
of them this article, so essential to the mariner, was found 
of excellent quality both in brooks and ponds. Several of 
the isles are seven or eight leagues long, and from three to 
four broad, and partially wooded. Land-turtle were found 
here in such multitudes, that Dampier says " 500 or 600 men 
might subsist on them for several months without any other 
sort of provision." Some of them weighed from 150 to 
200 pounds, and were two feet or two feet six inches over 
the callipee, and sweet as a young pullet. Thp islands also 
abounded in sea-turtle, — the creeks and shallows being 
filled with the turtle-grass on which the green-turtle feed. 
The sea-turtle were of four kinds, — ^the green-turtle, the 
loggerhead, the trunk-turtle, and the hawksbill ; on the 
back of this last species is found the shell so much valued 
in commerce. The largest of them afforded about three 
pounds and a half of this shell. 

At the Galapagos Isles the Bucaniers remained for ten 
days, and deposited a store of their prize-flour against future 
necessity. Salt was found here, pigeons abounded, the sea 
teemed with fish, and the leaves of the mammee-tTeei fur- 

* The Bucaniers at their first visit could not discover, how the small 
birds, and especially the turtle-doves, which were here numerous, and 
so tame that they would light upon the men's shoulders, obtained water. 
On another voyage some seamen, lying under a prickly-pear-tree,observed 
an old bird supplying the young ones with drink, by squeezing a liquid 
from a small berry into their bills. This liquid was found to be slightly 
acid, and not unpleasant in taste. For drink at these islands, when water 
could not be obtained, the seamen chewed leaves that they gathered, 
which they describe as of a thick pulpy consistence. 

t Mammea Americana, Linn., of the Linnaean class, and order Poly- 
andria, Monogynia, and of the natural family Gutti/ercB. It is a hand- 
some tree, sixty or seventy feet high, with an elegant branching head. 
The flowers are white, and sweet-scented. The fruit roundish, five or 
six inches in diameter, enclosing a rich ypllow pulp within a leathery 
rind. It is called Mbricot-sauvage by the French, and. accordmg to Jac- 
quin, is eaten either in a raw state, or cut into tii.JSB "W-i wine and 
sugar, or preserved in syrup. The skin and seeds are Bitter, with a 
strong resinous flavour. In Martiniaue the flowers are distilled with 



256 ESCAPE OF A EUCANIER PARTY. 

nished them with vegetables ; so that the Galapagos were 
in all respects well adapted for a Bucanier station. 

By the advice of an Indian, one of their prisoners, the 
Bucaniers were induced to visit Ria Lexa, his native place, 
where he promised them a rich harvest in plunder. 

At Juan Fernandez Captain Cook had been taken ill ; 
he now died somewhat suddenly as they stood off Cape 
Blanco, and, as a mark of respect, was buried on shore. 
While his men were digging the grave they were seen by 
three Spanish Indians, who held aloof, but asked them 
many questions ; *' and one man," says Dampier, " did not 
stick to sooth them up with as many falsehoods, purposely 
to draw them into our chitches ; and at length drilled them 
by discourse so near, that our men laid hold on all three at 
once." One escaped before the burial of Cook was over, 
and the other two were taken on ship-board. When ex^ 
amined, notwithstanding their pretended simplicity, they 
confessed that they had been sent out as spies by the Gov» 
emor of Panama, who had received intelligence of the Buc-- 
anier squadron. 

The voyagers were informed by these prisoners that large 
herds of cattle were reared in this neighbourhood, which 
was welcome news to seamen who had seen no fresh meat 
since their run from the Galapagos. Two boats were im- 
mediately sent to the shore with an Indian guide to bring 
off cattle ; but the enterprise appeared dangerous, and 
Dampier with twelve men returned on board. Those who 
were more foolhardy, and who even slept on shore, found 
themselves next morning watched by forty or fifty armed 
Spaniards, and their boat burnt. The cowardly Spaniards, 
afraid to come forward, still lurked in their ambush, and 
one of the seamen on landing, having noticed an insulated 
rock which just appeared above water, they made off for 
this fortress, and holding fast by each other, and wadhig to 
the neck, they reached the rock, while the Spanish shot 
whistled after them. In this perilous condition they had 
remained for seven hours, the tide, which was at the ebb 
when they took refuge here, rising around them, and gain'- 
ing on the rock so rapidly, that had not help come from the 

spirits, and made into a liquor called Eau Creole. May not the mam 
mee-tree nientioued in the text fis furnishing pdibie leaves ]3P & (lifferenl 
plant / 



DESCENT ON MANGERA. 257 

ships, in another hour they must have been swept away. 
The Spaniards, who relished bush-fighting better than the 
open field, meanwhile lay in wait for the catastrophe ; but 
when the canoe from the English ships bore off the men, 
they offered no resistance. 

The quarter-master, Edward Davis, was now elected 
commander in the room of Captain Cook ; and after taking 
in water, and cutting lancewood for handles to their oars, 
they bore away for Ria Lexa, and on the 23d July were 
opposite the harbour. The situation of the town is known 
by a high-peaked volcanic mountain, which rises within 
three leagues of the harbour, but may be seen at the dis- 
tance of twenty leagues. A small flat island, about a mile 
long and a quarter of a mile broad, forms the harbour, in 
which 300 sail can ride. It may be entered by a channel at 
each end. 

The Spaniards had here also got the start of the enemy. 
They had thrown up a breastwork on a strong position, and 
stationed sentinels to give instant alarm ; and the Buca- 
niers, who wished to surprise and plunder, and not to fight 
against great odds, deemed it prudent to steer for the Gulf 
of Amapalla, an arm of the sea running inland eight or ten 
leagues, and made remarkable by two headlands at the en- 
trance. Point Casivina on the south side, in latitude 12° 
40" N., and on the north-west Mount St. Michael. 

At a previous consultation, it had been agreed that Cap- 
tain Davis should advance first, in two canoes, and endea- 
vour to seize some Indians to labour at careening the ships, 
and also a prisoner of better condition, from whom intelli- 
gence might be obtained. On the Island of Manger a the 
padre of a village, from which all the other inhabitants had 
fled, was caught while endeavouring to escape, and with 
him two Indian boys. With these Davis proceeded to 
Amapalla, where, having previously gained over or fright- 
ened the priest, he told the Indians drawn up to receive him 
ihat he and his company were Biscayners, sent by the 
King of Spain to clear the seas of pirates, and that his 
business in the bay of this island was only to careen his 
ships. On this assurance Davis and his men were well 
received, and they all marched together, strangers and na- 
tives, to church, which was the usual place of public assem- 
bly, whether for business or amusement. The images in 
Y3 



258 SEPARATION OF THE BUCANIERS, 

the churches here, like those in the Bay of Campeachy, 
were painted of the Indian complexion ; and the people, 
under the sway of their padres, lived in much the same con- 
dition as the tribes described on the banks of the Tobasco, 
cultivating maize, rearing poultry, and duly paying the 
priest his tithe. Here, too, they were indulged in masks 
and other pastimes, with abundance of music, on saints' 
eves and holj^days. " Their mirth," says Dampier, " con^ 
gists in singing, dancing, and using many antic gestures, 
If the moon shine they use but few torches ; if not, the 
church is full of light. They meet at these tijnes all sorts 
of both sexes. .All the Indians that I have been acquainted 
with who are imder the Spaniards seem to be more melan-' 
pholy than other Indians who are free ; and at these public 
meetings, when they are in the greatest of their jollity, 
their mirth seems to be rather forced than real. Their 
songs are very melancholy and doleful ; so is their music." 

In attending them to the church under the guise of friends- 
ship, Davis intended to ensnare these unsuspecting people, 
and maice them all his prisoners till he had dictated hia 
own terms of ransom, the padre having, probably from corj^ 
pulsion, promised his aid in entrapping his flock. This 
hopeful project was frustrated by one of the Bucaniera 
rashly and rudely pushing a man into the church before 
him. The alarm was given, the Indian fled, and his coun- 
trymen " sprung out of the church like deer." Davis and 
his men immediately fired, and killed a leading man among 
the natives. 

The Bucaniers were, however, afterward assisted by 
several of the natives m storing the ships with cattle plun- 
dered from an island in the gulf, belonging to a nunnery in 
some distant place ; and, from some feelings of remorse, 
on leaving this quarter Davis presented the islanders of Amaj- 
pallawith one of his prize-ships, and a considerable part of 
the cargo of flour which it contained. The ships here broke 
off consortship. The crews had quarrelled, — Davis's party, 
in right of priority in marauding, claiming the largest share 
of the spoils. Eaton left the gulf on the 3d September, 
and Davis, with whom Dampier continued, on the day fol- 
Jowing, having previously set the padre on shore. They 
stood for the coast of Peru, having almost every day tor? 
nadoes accompanied with thunder an-d lightRiiigj^^^w^&tJiw 



LA PLATA AND MANTA. 259 

of this kind generally prevailing in these latitudes from 
June to November. When these gusts vs^ere over, the wind 
generally shifted to the west. Near Cape St. Francisco 
they had settled weather, and the wind at south. About 
this place they again fell in with Eaton, who had encoun- 
tered terrible storms. *' Such tornadoes as he and his men 
had never before seen, — the air smelling veiy much of sul- 
phur, and they fancying themselves in great danger of being 
burnt by the lightning." Captain Eaton had touched at 
Cocos Island, where he laid up a store of flour, and took in 
water and cocoanuts. Cocos Island, as described by Eaton, 
is nearly surrounded by rocks ; but at the north-east end 
there is one small and secure harbour, — a brook of fresh 
water flowing into it. The middle of the island is high 
and though destitute of trees, looks verdant and pleasant 
from the abundance of an herb which the Spaniards called 
gramadiel, growing upon the high grounds. Near the 
shore all round the island were groves of cocoas. 

At the Island of La Plata, so named, according to Dam- 
pier, from Sir Francis Drake having divided upon it the 
plunder of the plate-ship the Cacafuego, the Bucaniers 
found water, though but a scanty rivulet, and plenty of 
small sea-turtle. Captain Eaton's company would again 
have joined their former consorts ; but Dampier relates 
that Davis's men, his own comrades, were still so unrea- 
sonable that they would not consent to new-comers having 
an equal share of what they pillaged ; so the Nicholas held 
southward, while the Bachelor's Delight steered for Point 
Santa Elena in 2° 15' S., pretty high but flat land, naked 
of trees and overgrown with thistles. There was no fresh 
water on the point, and this article the inhabitants brought 
from four leagues' distance, from the river Colanche, the 
innermost part of the bay. Watermelons, large and very 
sweet, were the only things cultivated on the point. Pitch* 
was the principal commodity of the inhabitants. It boiled 
put of a hole in the earth at five paces above high-water 
mark, and was found plentifully at flood-tide ; when first 
obtained it was like thin tar, but was boiled down to the con ■ 
jeistence of pitch. 

Pavis's inen landed at Manta, a village on the mainland* 

* Ai£atr*ae, a bitumioous esrtb. 



260 DAVIS IS JOINED BY CAPTAIN SWAN. 

about three leagues to the east of Cape San Lorenzo, 
where they made two old women prisoners, from whom they 
learned that many Bucaniers had lately crossed the isthmus 
from the West Indies, and were cruising on the coast in 
canoes and pirogues. The viceroy had taken every precau- 
tion against this new incursion. On all the uninhabited 
islands the goats had been destroyed ; ships were burned to 
save them from the Bucaniers, and no provisions were 
allowed to remain at any place on the coast, but such as 
might be required for the immediate supply of the inhabit- 
ants. Davis returned to La Plata, at a loss what course to 
take ; when, on the 2d October, he was joined by the Cyg- 
net of London, commanded by Captain Swan, who, ill 
treated by the Spaniards, and disappointed of peaceful 
traffic, for which he had come prepared with an expensive 
cargo, had been compelled by his men to receive on board a 
party of Bucaniers, and in self-defence to commence free- 
booter. Before he had adopted this course some of his men 
had been killed by the Spaniards at Baldivia, where he had 
attempted to open a trade. With this small Bucanier 
party, which had come by the Darien, plundering by the 
way. Swan fell in near the Gulf of Nicoya. It was led by 
Peter Harris, the nephew of a Bucanier commander of the 
same name who had been killed in the battle with the Span- 
ish ships in the Bay of Panama three years before. Harris 
took command under Swan, in a small bark wholly manned 
by Bucaniers. 

This was a joyful meeting of old associates ; and the de- 
parture of Eaton was now deeply regretted, as their united 
force might have ensured success to more important under- 
takings than any they had yet ventured to contemplate. 
While the ships were refitting at La Plata, a small bark, 
which Davis had taken after the Spaniards had set it on 
fire, was sent out to cruise, and soon brought in a prize of 
400 tons burthen, laden with timber, and gave inteUigence 
that the viceroy was fitting out a fleet of ten frigates to 
sweep them from the South Seas. Again the loss of Eaton 
was felt, and this bark was despatched to search for him on 
the coast of Lima. It went as far as the Isle of Lobos. 
Meanwhile Swan's ship, which was still full of English 
goods, was put in better fighting-trim, and made fit to ac- 
commodate her additional crew. The supercargo sold his 



DESCENT ON PAITA. 261 

goods on credit to every Bucanier who would purchase, 
taking his chance of payment, and the bulky commodities 
which remained were pitched overboard, — silks, muslins, 
and finer goods, and iron bars which were kept for ballast, 
being alone retained. In lieu of these sacrifices, the whole 
Bucaniers on board the Cygnet agreed that ten shares of 
all booty should be set aside for Swan's owners. 

The men-of-war were now scrubbed and cleaned, a small 
bark was equipped as a fireship ; and the vessel which had 
been cruising after Eaton not having returned, the squad- 
ron sailed without it on the 20th October, and on the 3d 
November landed at Paita, which wks found nearly aban 
doned, but left without "money, goods, or a meal of 
victuals of any kind." They anchored before the place, 
and demanded ransom for its safety, ordering in the mean 
while 300 pecks of flour, 3000 pounds of sugar, 25 jars of 
wine, and 1000 of water to be brought off to the ships ; 
but, after wasting six days, they obtained nothing, and in 
revenge burnt the town. The road of Paita was one of the 
best in Peru, roomy, and sheltered from the south-west by 
a point of land. The town had no water except what was 
carried thither from Colan, from whence the place was also 
supplied with fruits, hogs, plantains, and maize. Dampier 
says, that on this coast, from about "Cape Blanco to 30*-' S., 
no rain ever falls that he ever observed or heard of." He 
calls this range " the dry country." Wafer states that 
heavy nightly dews fertilize the valleys. The country 
around it was mountainous and steril. 

From information obtained here, it was gathered that 
Captain Eaton had been before them, and had burned a 
large ship in the road, and landed all his prisoners. They 
also learned that a small vessel, which they concluded to 
be their own bark, had approached the harbouj, and made 
some fishermen brmg out water. 

Harris's small vessel being found a heavy sailer, was 
burned before leaving Paita, from which the squadroi» 
steered for Lobos de Tierra, and on the 14th anchored 
near the east end of the island, and took in a supply of 
seals, penguins, and boobies, of which they ate "very 
heartily, not having tasted flesh in a great while bfifore." 
To reconcile his men to what ha-d been the best fare of the 
sjrews of Dr^ke, Cavendish, and the earlier naviiiators* 



2Q2 FAILURE OF THE ATTEMPT ON GUAYAQUIL. 

Captain Swan commended this food as of extraordinary deli- 
cacy and rarity, comparing the seals to roasted pigs, the 
boobies to pullets, and the penguins to ducks. On the 
19th the fleet reached Lobos de la Mar, where a letter was 
found deposited at the rendezvous by the bark, which was 
istill in search of Eaton. It was now feared he had sailed 
for the East Indies, which turned out to be the fact. 

Here the Mosquito-men supplied the companies of both 
ships with turtle ; while the seamen laboured to clean and 
repair, and provide them with firewood, preparatory to an 
attempt upon Guayaquil. For this place they sailed on 
the morning of the 29th. According to Dampier, Guaya- 
quil was then one of the chief ports of the South Seas. 
The commodities it exported were hides, tallow, cocoa, 
sarsaparilla, and a woollen fabric named Quito cloth, 
generally used by the common people throughout all Peru. 
The Bucaniers left the ships anchored off Cape Blanco, 
and entered the bay with their canoes and a bark. They 
captured a small vessel laden with Quito cloth, the master 
of which informed them of a look-out being kept at Puna, 
which lay in their way, and that three vessels with negro 
slaves were then about to sail from Guayaquil. One of 
these vessels they took shortly afterward, cut down her 
mainmast, and left her at anchor, and next morning cap- 
tured the other two, though only a few negroes were 
picked out of this to them aseless cargo. 

From mismanagement, and disagreement between the 
commanders and the men in the two ships, the expedition 
against Guayaquil misgave. It was imagined that the 
town was alarmed and prepared to receive them warmly ; 
and after having landed, lain in the woods all night, and 
made their way with considerable difficulty, they abandoned 
the design before one shot had been fired, and while the 
place lay full in view of them at a mile's distance without 
manifesting any appearance of opposition being intended. 

Dampier, whose ideas took a wider and bolder range 
than those of his companions, deeply lamented their ill con- 
duct upon the fair occasion which offered at this time of 
enriching themselves at less expense of crime than in their 
ordinary pursuits. ''Never," he says, "was there put 
into the hands of men a greater opportunity to enrich them* 
eelves." His bold and comprehensive plan was, with th© 



DESCENT ON TOMACO. 268 

iOOO negroes found in the three ships, to have gone to St. 
Martha, and worked the gold-mines there. In the Indians 
he reckoned upon finding friends, as they mortally hated 
the Spaniards, — for present sustenance they had 200 tons 
of flour laid up at the Galapagos Islands, — the North Sea 
would have been open to them, — thousands of Bucaniers 
would have joined them from all parts of the West Indies, 
and united they might have been a match for all the force 
Peru could muster, masters of the richest mines in this 
quarter, and of all the west coast as high as Quito. 
Whether Dampier unfolded this "golden dream" at the 
time does not appear. The Bucaniers, at all events, sailed 
to La Plata, where they found the bark, and divided the 
cloth of Quito equally between the companies of Swan and 
Davis, converting the vessel in which it had been taken 
into a tender for the Cygnet. 

This ship had since joining depended almost wholly 
upon the Bachelor's Delight for provisions, as it had 
neither Mosquito-purveyors nor a store of flour ; and the 
original Bucanier company of Davis now murmured loudly 
at feeding the cowards who they alleged had balked the 
attempt on> Guayaquil. But neither could aflford to part 
consortship, and they sailed in company on the 23d Decem- 
ber to attack Lavelia in the Bay of Panama. In this 
cruise, from the charts and books found in their prizes, 
they supplied the ignorance and deficiencies of the Indians 
and Spanish pilots whom they had as prisoners on board ; 
these drafts being found surer guides. Their object was 
in the first place to search for canoes, — the want of boats 
being greatly felt, — in rivers where the Spaniards had na 
trade with the natives, ncr settlements of any kind, as con- 
cealment was most important to the success of their opera- 
tions. In unfrequented rivers where boats might be found, 
the coast abounded from the equinoctial line to the Gulf 
of St. Michael. When five days out from La Plata, they 
made a sudden descent upon a village named Tomaco, 
where they captured a vessel laden with timber, in which 
was a Spanish knight with a crew of eight Spaniards, and 
also took what the Bucaniers valued much more, a canoe 
with twelve jars of good old wine. A canoe with a party 
that rowed six leagues farther up the river, which Dampier 
named St. Jago, came to a house belonging to a Spanish 



264 PROCEEDINGS OF TliE BtCANlEllS. 

lady of Lima, whose servants at this remote station traded 
with the natives for gold. They fled ; but the Bucaniers- 
found several ounces of gold left in their calabashes. The 
land on the banks of this river was a rich black mould, pro- 
ducing tall trees. The cotton and cabbage-trees flourished 
here on the banks ; and a good way into the interior In- 
dian settlements were seen, with plantations of maize, 
plantain-walks, hogs, and poultry. At Tomaco a c^noe 
with three natives visited the str angers j whom they did not 
distinguish from Spaniards. They were of middling stature, 
straight, and well-hmbed, " long-visaged, thin-faced, with 
black hair, ill-looked men, of a very dark copper complex- 
ion." The Bucaniers presented them with wine, which 
they drank freely. 

On the 1st of Janriaty the Cygnet and Bachelor's 
Delight sailed for the Island of Gallo, carrying with them 
the Spanish knight Don Pinas, and two canoes. On the' 
way one of their boats captured the packet-boat from Lima, 
and fished up the letters which the Spaniards when pur- 
sued had thrown overboard attached to a line and buoy. 
From these despatches they learned the welcome and import- 
ant fact of the Governor of Panama hastening the sailing of 
the triennial Plate-fleet from Callao to Panama, previous 
to the treasure being conveyed across the isthmus to Porto 
Bello on mules. To intercept this fleet would enrich every 
man among them at one stroke ; and to this single object 
every faculty was now bent. As a fit place to careen their 
ships, and at the same time lie in wait for their prey, they 
fixed upon the Pearl Islands ill. the Bay of Panama, for 
which they sailed from Gallo on the morning of the 7th ; 
—two ships, three barks, a fireship, and two small ten* 
ders, one attached to each ship. 

On the 8th they opportunely captured a bark with flour, 
and then "jogged on with a gentle gale" to Gorgona, an 
uninhabited island, well wooded^ and watered with brook- 
lets issuing from the high grounds. Pearl-oysters abounded 
here. They were found in from four to six fathoms water, 
and seemed flatter in the shell than the ordinary eating- 
oyster. The pearl was found at the head of the oyster, 
between the shell and the meat, sometimes one or two 
pretty large in size, and at other times twenty or thirty 



SCENERY OF THE BAY OF PANAMA. 265 

seed-pearls. The inside of the shell was " more glorious 
tlran the pearl itself." 

Landing most of their prisoners at Gorgona, the squad- 
ron, now consisting of six sail, steered for the Bay of Pa- 
nama, and anchored at Galera, a small, barren, uninhabited 
island, from whence they again sailed on the 25th to one 
of the southern Pearl Islands, as a place more suitable to 
hale up and clean the ships. While this was in progress, 
the small barks cruised, and brought in a prize laden with 
beef, Indian corn, and fowls, which were all highly ac- 
ceptable. They next took in water and firewood, and 
were at last in fit order to fight as well as to watch the 
Plate-fleet, which they did cruising before Panama, between 
the Pearl Islands and the main ; where, says Dampier, 
" it was very pleasant sailing, having the main on one side, 
which appears in divers forms. It is beautified with many 
email hills, clothed with wood of divers sorts of trees, 
which are always green and flourishing. There are some 
few small high islands within a league of the mjiin, scat- 
tered here and there one, partly woody partly bare, and 
they as well as the main appear very pleasant." Most of 
the Pearl Islands were wooded and fertile ; and from them 
were drawn the rice, plantains, and bananas which sup- 
y>lied the city ot New Panama, " a fair city standing close 
by the sea, about four miles from the ruins of the old town," 
—encompassed behind with a fine country of hill and 
valley, beautified with groves and spots of trees, appearing 
like islands in the savannas. The new city had been walled 
in since the late visit which Dampier had made it with 
Sawkins, Coxon, and Sharp, and the walls were now 
mounted with guns pointing seaward. 

As Davis lay nearly opposite the city, its supplies from 
the islands were completely cut off ; while his people every 
day fished, hunted, or pillaged among them. At this time 
Davis negotiated for an exchange of prisoners, giving up 
forty, of whom he was very glad to be rid, in return for 
one of Harris's band, and a man who had been surprised 
by the Spaniards while hunting in the islands. Attention 
to the safety of the meanest individual of their company 
was at all times one of the fundamental principles of the 
Bucaniers ; and it is stated on good authority, that when 
they first Imnted in the wilds of Hispaniola, if at nightfall 
Z 



266 THE BUCAKflERS REINFORCED* 

one comrade was missing, all business was suspended till 
he was either found or his disappearance satisfactorily 
accounted for. 

The Lima fleet proved tardy in making its appearance, 
and the Bucaniers again moved, and came to anchor near 
Tabago, an island of the bay abounding in cocoa and mam- 
mee, and having fine brooks of pure water gliding through 
groves of fruit-trees. About this time they were nearly en- 
snared by the stratagem of a Spaniard, who, under pre- 
tence of clandestine traffic, sent a fireship among them at 
midnight ; but the treachery was suspected in time, and 
avoided. This fireship had been fitted up by the same 
Captain Bond of whom they had heard at the Cape de Verd 
Islands. He was an English pirate who had deserted to 
the Spaniards. 

The squadron, which had been scattered through the 
night from alarm of the fireship, had scarcely returned to 
its station, and looked about for the cut anchors, when the 
freebooters were thrown into fresh consternation by seeing 
many canoes full of armed men passing through sn island- 
channel and steering direct for them. They also bore up ; 
but the strangers proved to be a party of 280 Bucaniers, 
French and English, in twenty-eight canoes, who had just 
crossed the isthmus on an expedition to tne South Sea. 
The English seamen, eighty in number, entered with Swan 
and Davis ; and the flour-prize was given to the French 
Flibustiers, who entered it under the command of Captain 
Groignet, their countryman. These strangers announced 
another party of 180, under Captain Townley, all English, 
who were at this time constructing canoes to bring them 
down the rivers into the South Sea ; and on the 30th of 
March these joined the fleet, not, however, in canoes, but 
in two ships which they had taken as soon as they entered 
the bay, laden with flour, wine, brandy, and sugar. The 
squadron was further increased by the arrival of a vessel 
under the command of Mr. William Knight ; and the In- 
dians of Santa Martha brought inteUigence that yet another 
strong party, French and EngUsh, were on the way. These 
also arrived, to the number of 264 men, with three com- 
manders ; one of whom, Le Picard, was a veteran who haJ 
served under Lolonnois and Morgan at Porto Bello. 

The Bucanier force now amounted to about 1000 men j 



SEA-FIGHT IN THE BAY OF PANAMA. 267 

and .the greatest want was coppers to cook provisions for 
so many. The few kettles which they had were kept at 
work day and night, and a foraging-party sent out to bring 
in coppers. 

From intercepted letters it was ascertained that the Lima 
fleet was now at sea ; and the design upon the ciiy was 
suspended till the plate-ships were first secured, though, as 
it chanced, in counting on their easy capture, the Bucaniers 
reckoned without their host. 

It was now the latter end of May, and for six months the 
Bucaniers had concentrated their attention on this single- 
enterprise. Their fleet now consisted of ten sail ; but, 
save the Bachelor's Delight, which carried thirty-six guns, 
and the Cygnet, which was armed, none were of force, 
though all were fully manned. The Spanish fleet, it was 
afterward learned, mustered fourteen sail ; two of forty 
guns, one of thirty-six, another of eighteen, and one of 
eight guns, with large companies to each ship. Two fire- 
ships attended the Spanish fleet. 

Before the Bucaniers had finished consultation on their 
plan of operation, the Spanish fleet advanced upon them, 
and battle was resolved on. And, " lying to windward of 
the enemy, we had it," says Dampier, " in our choice 
whether to fight or not. It was three o'clock in the after- 
noon when we weighed, and being all under sail, we bore 
down right afore the wind on our enemies, who kept close 
on a wind to come to us ; but night came on without any 
thing besides the exchanging of a few shot on each side. 
When it grew dark the Spanish admiral put out a light as 
a signal for his fleet to come to an anchor. We saw this 
light at the admiral's top for about half an hour, and then it 
was taken down. In a short time after we saw the light 
again, and being to windward, we kept under sail, sup- 
posing the light had been in the admiral's top ; but, as it 
proved, this was only a stratagem of theirs, for this light was 
put out ;,he second time at one of the barks' topmast-head, 
and then she w<is sent to leeward, which deceived us, for 
we thought still the light was in the admiral's top, and by 
that means ourselves to windward of them." At daybreak 
the Bucaniers found that by this stratagem the Spaniards 
had got the weather-gage of them, and were bearing down 
full sail, which compelled them to run for it ; and a running 



268 ASSAULT OF LEON AND RIA LEXA. 

fight was maintained all day, till, having made a turn 
almost round the bay, they anchored at night whence they 
had set out in the morning. Thus terminated their hopes 
of the treasure-ships, though it was afterward learned that 
the plate had been previously landed. The French cap- 
tain, Groignet, had kept out of the action, for which he and 
his crew were afterward cashiered by their English asso- 
ciates. The common accusation which the English Buca- 
niers brought against their allies was reluctance to fight ; 
while the latter blamed their indecent contempt of the Ca- 
tholic rehgion, displayed as often as they entered the Span- 
ish churches, by hacking and mutilating every thing with 
their cutlasses, and firing their pistols at the images of the 
saints. Next morning the Spanish fleet was seen at anchor 
three leagues to the leeward, and as the breeze sprung up 
it stood away for Panama, contented with safety and the 
small advantage obtained on the former day. The Buca- 
niers were equally well satisfied to escape a renewed en- 
gagement, and after consultation they bore away for the 
Keys of Quibo to seek Harris, who had been separated 
from them in the battle or flight. At this appointed ren- 
dezvous they met their consort, and a fresh consultation 
made them resolve to marchdnland and assault Leon, first 
securing the port of Ria Lexa. 

The assault and conquest of these places offers nothing 
of interest or novelty ; they were carried by the united 
Bucanier force, amounting to 640 men, with eight vessels, 
three of them being tenders, and one a fireship. In this 
assault Dampier was left with 60 men to guard the canoes 
in which the party had been landed. At Leon they lost a 
veteran Bucanier of the original breed, whom Dampier thus 
eulogizes : " He was a stout old gray-headed man, aged 
about eighty-four, who had served under Oliver (Cromwell) 
in the Irish rebeUion ; after which he was at Jamaica, and 
had followed privateering ever since. He would not accept 
the offer our men, made him to tarry ashore, but said he 
would venture as far as the best of them ; and when Sur- 
rounded by the Spaniards, he refused to take quarter, but 
discharged his gun among them, keeping a pistol still 
charged ; so they shot him dead at a distance. His name 
was Swan. He was a very merry, hearty old man, and 
always used to declare he would never take quarter." 



• THE SQUADRON SEPARATES. 269 

A Mr. Smith, a merchant or supercargo, who had sailed 
with Captain Swan from London to trade in the South Sea, 
was made prisoner on the march to Leon. This city, situ- 
ated near the Lake of Nicaragua, Dampier describes as one 
of the most healthy and pleasant in all South America. No 
sooner were the Bucaniers masters of it than they demanded 
a ransom of 300,000 dollars, which was promised but never 
paid ; and becoming suspicious that the Spaniards were 
dallying with them merely to gain tiine and draw their force 
to a head, the town was set on fire, and they returned to 
the coast, first supplying themselves with beef, flour, pitch, 
tar, cordage, and whatever Leon or Ria Lexa afforded. One 
Spanish gentleman, who had been released on engaging to 
send in 150 head of cattle, redeemed his parole with scru- 
pulous honour. Mr. Smith was exchanged for a female 
prisoner, and Ria Lexa was left burning. 

The Bucanier squadron now separated, and the fraternity 
broke into several small detachments, Dampier choosing to 
follow Captain Swan, who intended first to cruise along 
the shores of Mexico, the country of the mines, and then, 
sailing as high as the south-west point of California, cross 
the Pacific, and return to England by India. This plan 
presented many temptations to Dampier, whose curiosity 
and thirst of knowledge were insatiable ; and he might also 
have shared in the hopes of his comrades, who promised 
themselves a rich booty in the towns in the neighbourhood 
of the mines before they turned their faces westward. Cap- 
tain Townley had kept by Swan when they separated from 
Eaton, and each ship had now a tender belonging to it. 
They put to sea on the 3d September, and encountered fre- 
quent and fierce tornadoes till near the end of the month., 
Early in October they were off the excellent harbour of 
Gautalco, the mouth of which may be known by a great 
oUow rock, from a hole in which every surge makes the 
water spout up to a considerable height, like the blowing 
of a whale. 

From the sea the neighbouring country looked beautiful. 
Here they found some provisions, and landed their sick for 
a few days. 

The Cygnet and her consort advanced slowly along ths 
coast, landed near Acapulco, plundered a carrier who 
conducted sixty laden mules, and kiUed eighteen beeves. 
Z2 



270 CAPTURE OF ST. PECAQUE. 

They next passed on to Colima, their object being that 
tempting prize which for generations had quickened the 
avarice of maritime adventurers — the Manilla ship, — for 
which they kept watch at Cape Corientes. After quitting 
Ria Lexa, many of the men had been seized with a malig- 
nant fever ; and as the same kind of disease broke out in 
Davis's squadron, it was with some feasibility imputed to 
infection caught at the place mentioned, where many of 
the inhabitants had been carried off by a disorder of the 
same kind some months before the Bucaniers visited the 
town. 

To victual the ship for the long voyage in view was one 
main object of the continued cruise of Captain Swan on this 
coast ; but the attempts made for this purpose were often 
bafHed with loss ; and so much time had now elapsed, that 
it was concluded the Manilla ship had eluded their vigilance. 
About the beginning of January, Town,ley left them in the 
Bay of Vanderas, and returned towards Panama, carrying 
home a few Indians of the Darien who had accompanied 
Swan thus far. The Mosquito-men remained in the Cygnet. 

To obtain provisions, Swan captured the town of St. Pe- 
caque, on the coast of New Gallicia, where large stores 
were kept for supplying the slaves who worked in tlie neigh- 
bouring mines. He brought off on the first day a consider- 
able quantity of provisions on horseback, and on the shoul- 
ders of his men. These visits were repeated, a party of 
Bucaniers keeping the town, till the Spaniards had collected 
a force. Of this Captain Swan gave his men due warning, 
exhorting them, on their way to the canoes with the bur- 
dens of maize and other provisions which they carried, to 
keep together in a compact body ; but they chose to follow 
their own course, every man straggling singty, whUe lead- 
ing his horse, or carrying a load on his shoulders. They 
accordingly fell into the ambush the Spaniards had laid for 
them, and to the amount of fifty were surprised, and merci- 
lessly butchered. The Spaniards, seizing their arms and 
loaded horses, fled with them before Swan, who heard the 
distant firing, could come to the assistance of his men. 
Fifty-four Englishmen and nine blacks fell in this affair, 
which was the most severe the Bucaniers had encountered 
in the South Sea. It is in consonance with the spirit of that 
age to find Dampier relating that Captain Swan had been 



dampier's sickness. 271 

warned of this disaster by his astrologer.* Many of the 
men had also, he states in his manuscript journal, foreboded 
this misfortune, and in the previous night, while lying in 
the church of St. Pecaque, " had been disturbed by grievous 
groanings, which kept them from sleeping." 

This disheartening affair determined Swan and his di- 
minished company to quit this coast ; and they accordingly 
steered for Cape St. Lucas, the south point of California, to 
careen, and to refresh themselves before crossing the Pa- 
cific ; but by adverse winds were compelled to put into a 
bay at the east end of the middle island of the Tres Marias, 
where they found iguanas, rackoons, rabbits, pigeons, and 
deer, fish of various kinds, turtle, and seals. There they 
careened the ship, divided and stowed the provisions be- 
tAveen it and the tender, and went over to the mainland for 
water, having previously landed the prisoners and pilots, 
who were now of no use, save to consume provisions. 
That they were abandoned on an uninhabited island is said 
to have been in revenge of the fatal affair of St. Pecaque. 

While they lay here Dampier, who had escaped the con- 
tagious fever, languished under a dropsical complaint, of 
which several of the men had died. The method of cure 
was singular, but the patient believed it successful. " I 
was," he says, " laid and covered all but my head in the 
hot sand : I endured it near half an hour, and was then taken 
out, and laid to sweat in a tent : I did sweat exceedingly 
while I was in the sand, and I do believe it did me much 
good, for I grew well soon after." 

While careening the ship, Swan had more fully laid be- 
fore his company his plan of going to the East Indies, hold- 
ing out to them hopes of plunder in a cruise among the 
Philippines. Dampier describes many of them as so igno- 
rant that they imagined it impossible to reach India from 
California ; others entertained more reasonable fears of 
their provisions failing before they could reach the La- 
drones.t Maize, and the fish which the Mosquito-men 

* It was then customary before undertaking a voyage to consult an 
astrologer 

t The discussion about the homeward voyage at this time led Dampier 
into speculations upon a north-west passage, which shows him to have 
teen as a navigator far in advance of his'age. " All our countrymen," 
he says, " that have gone to discover the noirth-west passage, have gone 
to the westward. Were I to attempt a lunrth-west passage, I would go 



272 THE CYGNET CROSSES THE PACIFIC. 

caught, some of which were salted for store, now consti- 
tuted the whole provision of above 150 men, and of this but 
a short allowance could be afforded daily, calculating on a 
run of at least sixty days. 

On the 31st March, having all agreed to attempt the 
vojrage, and consented to the straitened allowance, the 
Cygnet and the tender commanded by Captain Teat sailed 
from the American coast, steering south-west till she arrived 
at 13° N., in which parallel she held due west for the La- 
drones. The men received but one meal a day, and there 
was no occasion, Dampier says, to call them to their victuals, 
which were served out by the quarter-master with the exact- 
ness of gold. Two dogs and two cats which were on board 
soon learned to attend daily for their respective shares. 
' The Cygnet enjoyed a fair fresh-blowing trade-wind, and 
went on briskly, which was some consolation for scanty fare. 
At the end of twenty days they had made so much pro- 
gress that the men began to murmur at being still kept upon 
such short allowance ; and by the time they reached Gua- 
han they were almost in open mutiny, and had, it was said, 
resolved to kill and eat Swan in the first place, and after- 
ward in regular order all who had promoted this voyage ! 
In the long run of 5000 miles they had seen no living 
thing, whether bird, fish, or insect, save in longitude 18° 
a flock of boobies, presumed to be the denizens of some 
clififs or islands, though none were seen. On the 21st of 
May, near midnight, they had the happiness of coming to 
anchor on the west side of Guahah, about a mile from the 
shore, after a run which Dampier calculated at 7302 miks. 
At this island the Spaniards had a small fort and a garrison 
of thirty men. Presuming that the Cygnet was a Spanish 
vessel from Acapulco, a priest came off, and was detained 
as a hostage till terms of obtaining provisions were ar- 

first to the South Seas, hend my course from thence along by California, 
and that way seek a passage into the western seas. If I succeeded in 
my attempt. I should then be without that dread which others must have 
had of oassing from a known to an unknown region ; and wiiich, it is not 
improbable, obliged them to relinquish the pursuit just as they were on 
the eve of accomplishing their designs." — " Were I," he says again, " to 
be employed in search of a north-east passage, I would winter about 
Japan, Corea, or the north-east part of China; and, taking the spring 
and summer b(!fore me, make my first trial on the coast of Tartary 
wherein if I succeedea, I should come into some known part, and have a 
great 4eal of time before me." 



SPANIARDS AND INDIANS OF GUAHAN. 273 

Tanged; and, as these were dictated by fair principles 6- 
exchange, no difficulty was experienced, both the Spaniards 
and the few natives on the island gladly bringing their 
goods to a safe and profitable market. 

The natives and the Spaniards here lived in a state of 
constant hatred, if not in open hostility ; and Captain 
Eaton, who had touched at Guahan on his voyage to India, 
after parting with Davis on the coast of Peru, had been in- 
stigated by the governor to plunder and practise every cru- 
elty upon the islanders. This advice neither himself nor 
his men were slow to follow. " He gave us leave," says 
Cowley's manuscript narrative of the voyage, " to kill and 
take whatever we could find in one-half of the island where 
the rebels lived. We then made wars," as Cowley chooses 
to term wanton unprovoked aggression, " with these infi- 
dels, and went on shore every day, fetching provisions and 
firing among them wherever we saw them ; so that the 
greater part of them left the island. The Indians sent two 
of their captains to treat with us, but we would not treat 
with them. The whole land is a garden." 

Dampier reckons that at this time there were not above 
100 Indians on the whole island, as most of those who had 
escaped slaughter destroyed their plantations, and went to 
other islands, remote from the tender mercies of the 
Spaniards and their new allies the Bucaniers. While a 
friendly and brisk trade was going on between the shore and 
the Cygnet, the Acapulco vessel came in sight of the island, 
but was warned off in time by the governor, without, luckily 
for herself, having been descried by the Bucaniers. In the 
eagerness of flight she ran upon a shoal, where her rudder 
was struck off, nor did she get clear for three days. As 
soon as the natives informed the Bucaniers of this prize, 
they " were in a great heat to be after her ;" but Swan, 
who disliked his present vocation, and still hoped to open 
an honest traffic at Manilla, though he found it prudent 
under present circumstances to keep this design secret, per- 
suaded, or as probably frightened, his wild crew out of this 
humour by representing the dangers of the chase. 

Suitable presents were exchanged between the governor 
and the priest and the English captain, and preparations 
made to depart. Here Dampier first saw the bread-fruit, — 
the staflT of life of so many of the insulated tribes of Poly- 



274 THE BUCANIERS REACH MINDANAO 

nesia,, Of the flying-proas^ or sailing-canoes of these 
islands, so often described, he expresses the highest admira- 
tion. " I believe," he says, " they sail the best of any boats 
in the world ;" one that he tried would, he believed, " run 
24 miles an hour ;" and one had been known to go from 
Guahan to Manilla, a distance of 480 leagues, in four days. 

It took the Cygnet 19 days to reach the coast of Min- 
danao, for which she sailed on the 2d June ; and after beat- 
ing about through several channels and islands, she came to 
anchor on the 18th July opposite the river's mouth, and be- 
fore the city of Mindanao. They hoisted English colours, 
and fired a salute of seven or eight guns, which was re- 
turned from the shore by three. The island of Mindanao 
was divided into small states, governed by hostile sultans, 
the governor of this territory and city being the most power- 
ful of their number. The city stood on the banks of the 
river, about two miles from the sea. It was about a mile 
in length, but narrow, and winded with the curve of the 
stream. The houses were built on posts from fourteen to 
twenty feet high ; and as this was the rainy season, they 
looked as if standing in a lake, the inhabitants plying about 
from house to house in canoes. They were of one story, 
which was divided into several rooms, and were entered by 
a ladder or stair placed outside. The roofs were covered 
with palm or palmetto leaves. There was a piazza, gene- 
rally lying in a state of great filth, under each house, some 
of them serving for poultry-yards and cellars. " But at the 
time of the land-floods all is washed very clean." The 
floors were of wicker-work of bamboo. 

Captain Swan had many reasons for desiring to cultivate 
the friendship of the ruling powers at Mindanao. Imme- 
diately after the Cygnet came to anchor. Rajah Laut, the 
brother and prime minister of the sultan, and the second 
man in the state, came off in a canoe, rowed with ten oars, 
to demand whence they were. One of the sultan's sons, 
who spoke the Spanish language, accompanied his iincle. 
When informed that the strangers were English, they were 
welcomed, though Rajah Laut appeared disappointed that 
they were not come to establish a factory, for which propo- 
sals had already been made to him by the East India 
Company. The conversation was carried on by Mr. 
Smith, the late prisoner at Ria Lexa, and the sultan's son, 



VISIT TO THE SULTAN. 275 

who with his uncle remained all the while in the canoe. 
They promised to assist the English in procuring provisions, 
and were rowed off without more passing at this time. 

Dampier regrets that the offer of a settlement here was 
not accepted, " by which," he says, " we might better have 
consulted our own profit and satisfaction than by the other 
roving loose way of life ; so it might probably have proved 
of public benefit to our nation, and been a means of intro- 
ducing an English settlement and trade, not only here, but 
through several of the Spice Islands which lie in its neigh- 
bourhood." They had not lain long here when they re- 
ceived another invitation to settle in a different island, the 
sultan of which sent his nephew to Mindanao to negotiate 
secretly with Captain Swan. 

The Cygnet's company had not been aware of the dignity 
of their first visiters till they were gone^ when the govern- 
ment-officer informed them ; who, according to the custom 
of the ports of China and other parts in the East, came on 
board to measure the ship, — a practice of which Dampier 
could not conceive the reason, unless the natives wished to 
improve their knowledge of ship-building. 

In the same afternoon Captain Swan sent Mr. More, one 
of the supercargoes, to the city with a present for the sultan, 
consisting of three yards of scarlet cloth, three yards of 
broad gold-lace, a Turkish scimitar, and a pair of pistols ; 
and to the Rajah Laut, the dignitary they had already seen, 
three yards of the same cloth with silver-lace. After some 
preliminary ceremonies, the English envoy was at night ad- 
mitted to an audience, to which he was conducted by armed 
men, accompanied by servants bearing torches. The sultan, 
with ten privy-counsellors all seated on carpets, awaited his 
arrival. The present was graciously accepted, a conference 
took place in Spanish, after which Mr. More and his attend- 
ants, being first treated with supper, returned on board. 
Next day Captain Swan was invited on shore, whither he 
went, preceded by two trumpeters. He was conducted to- 
an audience, and entertained with betel and tcbaccc. Two 
letters were shown him, sent by East India merchants to 
the sultan, demanding liberty to build a factory and fort, 
and specifying the terms of traffic, rates of exchange, and 
of weights and measures. One letter was beautifully writ-^' 
ten, and between each line there was drawn a line of gold^ 



276 RAJAH LAUT. 

Another letter, left by a Captain Goodlod, who )iad lately 
visited Mindanao, and directed generally to any of the Eng- 
lish who might touch there, concluded, " Trust none oi 
them, for they are all thieves ; but tace is Latin for a 
candle." 

After the interview with the sultan. Captain Swan visited* 
Rajah Lant, who, being rather in disgrace with his brother 
at this time, had not been present at the audience. He 
entertained the English captain with boiled fowls and rice, 
and strongly urged him to bring the ship into the river, as 
stormy weather was at this season to be expected. He 
also advised him to warn his men against offending the 
natives by infringing their citstoms, and altogether appeared- 
very familiar and friendly. To impress Swan with an idea 
of his justice, he ordered a man who had formerly robbed- 
Captain Goodlud to be now punished ; and the miserable 
wretch was accordingly publicly exposed bound to a post, 
and stripped naked with his face opposite the scorchmg sun,^ 
while he was shifted round and kept in torture, following 
its course all day, stung by the gnats and mosquitoes. This 
was a usual mode of punishment. His life was at night- 
fall left at the mercy of the English captain, who informed 
Rajah Laut that he had no right to take cognizance of any 
crime which had not been committed by his own men and 
in his own ship. 

The letters from the company's agents, by convincing 
Swan that there was a serious intention of establishing a 
factory at this place, gave him confidence to enter the river, 
trusting also to the friendly professions of Rojah Laut, 
The Cygnet was accordingly lightened of part of her cargo, 
and, with the help of sixty native fishermen. Rajah Laut 
directing their operations in person, she crossed the bar 
with the first springtide, and was moored within the mouth 
of the river. The Bucaniers remained here so long upon 
a footing of daily intimate intercourse with the townspeople, 
that Dampier has been enabled to give a very full and 
minute account of the Mindanaians. A singular custom 
of the country facilitated easy intercourse with the natives, 
though seamen, having their pockets stored with gold and 
their ships with desirable commodities, who are neither 
suspected of any sinister intention by the people nor 
viewed with jealousy by the government, have rarely found' 



THE BUCANIERS AT MINDANAO. 277 

tho half-civilized tribes of the Indian islands difficult of 
access. 

The custom common in the South Sea islands of ex- 
changing names and forming a comradeship with a native, 
whose house is thenceforward considered the home of the 
stranger, extended ^in Mindanao to the other sex, and " an 
innocent platonic female friend, named a pagally,''^ was 
ofTered to each of the Englishmen, besides his male com- 
rade. These friendships were, however, not so perfectly- 
disinterested as not to require the cement of presents on 
the one side and Jflatteries on the other. In Mindanao, as 
in more refined parts of the world, those who were best 
dressed and furnished with gold the most readily obtained 
companions and pagallies. Under the sanction of this sin- 
gular national custom the wives of the greatest men might 
choose friends among the strangers, or be selected as pagal- 
lies, and allowed to converse in public with the persons 
who distinguished them by their choice. 

On their first arrival, — for they soon declined in favour, 
owing probably to their own reckless and dissolute manners, 
— the seamen could not pass along the streets without being 
compelled to enter the houses, where they were presented 
with betel and tobacco, the cordial hospitahty of the givers 
atoning for the scantiness of this oriental entertainment. 
To express the vivacity and degree of their affection, the 
natives would place the forefingers of both hands close 
together, saying the English and themselves were like this ; 
the Dutch were signified by holding the same fingers six 
inches apart, and the Spaniards at double that distance. 
Captain Swan, who still had a large quantity of iron and 
lead, as well as other goods belonging to his owners, mean- 
while traded with Rajah Laut, at whose house he dined 
every day till he established himself at a dwelling which 
he hired in the town. Those of the Bucaniers who had 
money also took houses on shore, lived a jovial life among 
their comrades and pagallies, and hired female servants 
from their masters as temporary housekeepers. 

The most important division of this island, the largest 
save Luconia of the Philippine group, was, as h"s been 
mentioned, under the sway of the Sultan of Mindanao, 
who was often at war with the tribes that occupied the in- 
terior and the opposite coasts, and were less civilized and 
A a 



278 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF MINDANAO. 

Wealthy than his subjects. The soil of the island was deep 
and black, producing great varieties of timber ; and among 
others the tree named by the natives the libby, from the pith 
of which sago is manufactured. Rice was raised in some 
places, and on the hilly land potatoes, yams, and pumpkins. 
The fruits were the plantain, which Dampier names the 
" king of fruits," guavas, bananas, musk and watermelons, 
betel-nuts, cocoanuts, jacas, durions, cloves, nutmegs, 
oranges, See. 'From the fibres of the plantain the common 
people of Mindanao manufactured the only cloth which 
they wore, making webs of seven or eight yards long. The 
betel-nutj so much esteemed in most places of India, grew 
here on a tree like the cabbage-tree, but smaller. At the 
top of these trees the nuts grow on a tough stem, as thick 
as a man's finger, in clusters of forty or fifty. The fruit 
resembles the nutmeg, but is rather larger and rounder. 
When to be chewed, the nut was cut into four bits, one of 
which was wrapped up in an areca-leaf, spread with a soft 
paste made of lime. Every native carried his lime-box by 
his side, into which he dipped liis finger, spread his betel- 
leaf, wrapped up his nut, and proceeded to chew. Where 
there are no betel- vines the leaves are imported for this pur- 
pose. The nut is the most admired when young, and while 
it is green and juicy* It tastes rough in the mouth, dies 
the lips red and the teeth black, but at the same time pre- 
serves them.* Those who are not accustomed to its use 
become giddy at first, especially if the nuts are old; 

The religion of the Mindanaians was the Mohammedan ; 
and the children were taught to read and write, though' 
business was generally transacted by Chinese,- the natives 
being indifFerent accountants. Besides what wb.s supposed 
their native language, they spoke a dialect of the Malay, 
which was among them the language of commerce. Many 
of them also understood Spanish; as the Spaniards had 
only been expelled during the reign of the present sultan's; 
father. Rajah Laut both spoke and wrote Spanish ; and 
had, from reading and convsTsation, acquired a considerable 
knowledge of European countries. The natives were of 
middle size, with small limbs, partieulatly the females* 

* The preservatioSi of the teeth is with as much probability attributed 
to t]ie lime.' 



APPEARAXCE AND HABITS OF THE NATIVES. 279 

They had straight bodies, with small heads. Their face* 
were oval, but those of the women more round. Their 
foreheads were low, with small black eyes, short low noses, 
their lips thin and red, their skins tawny, but incUning to 
a brighter yellow than some of the other Indians, especially 
among the women. Young females of rank were often 
much fairer than the other women, and their noses rose to 
a more aristocratic prominence than those of meaner 
females. In "female children the nose, or rise between the 
eyes, was sometimes scarcely perceptible. The natives all 
walked with a stately air, and the women, though barefooted, 
had very small feet. The nail of the left thumb was allowed 
to grow very long. The mert wore a small turban, the 
laced ends hanging down, with trousers and a frock, but 
neither stockings nor shoes. The women tied up their 
hair in a knot, which hung down on the crown of the head. 
They wore a petticoat, and a frock that reached below the 
waist, with very long sleeves, which, pushed up, sat in, 
puckered folds, and were a source of great pride to the 
wearers. They were also adorned with earrings and 
bracelets, which the pagally would sometimes beg from her 
English friend. The clothing of the higher class was made 
of long cloth, but the lower universally wore the saggan or 
plantain-cloth. They used no chairs, but sat cross-legged 
on the floor or on mats. The common food of the people 
was sago or rice, with occasionally a fish or two ; but the 
better classes had often fowls and buffaloes' flesh. In some 
things their habits were very filthy, and in others very 
cleanly. Like all oriental tribes, they washed themselves 
frequently in the rivers, and took great delight in swim- 
ming, to which exercise both sexes are accustomed from 
infancy. The trades practised here were those of gold- 
smiths, blacksmiths, and carpenters, every man being more 
or less of a carpenter, and handling with dexterity their 
scanty tools, which consisted of the axe and the adze alone, 
saws and planes being altogether unknown. Yet the ships 
and barks they built were stout and serviceable, and in 
them the natives made war, or traded to Manilla, and some- 
times to Borneo and other distant places, exchanging the 
gold and bees- wax found in the interior of the island, for 
calicoes, silks, and muslins. Tney nad also a traffic with 
the Patch in tpbacco, which in Mindanao was of excellent 



280 SINGULAR DISEASE. 

quality, and sold so low as twelve pounds for a rial. Tl^ 
Mindanaians were resolute in fight, though they avoid-d 
the open field, erecting forts and small works, on which 
they mounted guns. These forts they would defend and 
besiege for months together, sometimes making a sally. 
Their weapons were lances, swords, and what Dampier 
calls hand-cressets,* resembling a bayonet, which they 
wore at all times, whether in war, at work, or pastime. 
When likely to be overcome, they sell their 'lives dearly 
and seldom either give or take quarter, the conqueror hew 
ing down his antagonist without mercy. 

The people here were liable to a leprous disease, the skii' 
becoming blotched and scurfy, and rising in white scaler 
from the continual rubbing induced by intolerable itchiness. 
Some had the skin white, in spots over their body, though 
smooth ; and these Dampier conjectured were patients who 
had been cured. Polygamy was common. The sultan 
had one queen and twenty-nine inferior wives, of whom 
one was called the war-queen, as she always attended her 
lord to battle. The daughter of the sultan by his queen 
was kept in strict seclusion ; but his other children in 
patriarchal numbers roamed about the streets, often begging 
things which they fancied from the Bucanier seamen. It 
was said that the young princess had never seen any man 
save her father the sultan, and Rajah Laut ; though all the 
other women were occasionally allowed to appear abroad 
in pageants, or upon public festivals. 

The sultan was an absolute prince, who, in oriental 
fashion, encouraged the industry and commercial enterprise 
of his subjects by borrowing sums, however small, which 
he discovered they had accumulated by trade. By way of 
varying this system of arbitrary exaction, he would at other 
times first compel them to purchase goods belonging to 
himself, which had probably been confiscated, and after- 
ward find some occasion of state to reclaim those goods for 
the public service. He was a little man, now between 

Dampier's hand-cressets are the kreeses of the Malayan tribes, the 
favourite weapon throughout all the islands and coasts into which this 
warlike race have forced their way. The weapon described as a long 
dagger or sword, seen by Magellan's crew, was the true kreese of the 
Malay ; and neither different in shape, nor in the enrichments of the hilt 
and sheath, from that worn at this day. 



DANCING-WOMEN, AND AMUSEMENTS. 281 

fifty and sixty, and altogether inferior to his brother and 
grand vizier, the Rajah Laut, who, though only equal in 
trickery, was superior to all his compeers in capacity and 
intelligence. It was he who led the mihtary forces of the 
sultan, managed the foreign policy, and regulated the in- 
ternal affairs of Mindanao. Without the license of Rajah 
Laut no one could either buy or sell ; nor could the com- 
mon fishermen enter or leave the port without his permis- 
sion. The Rajah Laut was altogether the hero of Min- 
xlanao, the women in the public dances and festivals singing 
his praises and celebrating his exploits. 

Besides being the wet season, it was Ramadan time 
when the Cygnet came to anchor in the river, and amuse- 
ment and pleasure were nearly suspended in Mindanao , 
but as soon as this solemn period was passed, the Rajah 
Laut entertained his friend Captain Swan every night with 
dances, those bands of regularly trained dancing-women 
4>eing seen here which are common over all India. But 
all the females of Mindanao were fond of dancing, which 
they practised in a ring of forty or fifty, who joined hand- 
in-hand, singing in chorus, and keeping time ; and though 
they never moved from the same spot, making various ges- 
;tures, throwing forward one leg, and clapping their hands 
at the close of the verse. The Rajah Laut was in return 
entertained by Captain Swan's men, who performed Eng- 
lish dances to the music of violins, in a ball-room fitted up 
with gold and silver lace, and illuminated by a profusion of 
wax candles. Dampier relates the very natural mistake 
into which the rajah fell regarding one of these quarter- 
deck performers. John Thacker, a common Bucanier, 
though he could neither read nor write, had acquired the 
.accomplishment of dancing about some " of the music 
houses of Wapping," and coming into the South Sea 
with Captain Harris, had been so fortunate in acquiring 
booty, that he now wore fine clothes, and by his superior 
dress and dancing was supposed by the natives to be a 
person of noble extraction. When the rajah, to satisfy 
his curiosity on this important point, put the question to 
one of the company, the seaman replied humorously that 
the conjecture as to Jack's quality was quite correct ; and 
that most of the ship's company were of like extraction, at 
least all who wore good clothes and had money, thosi 
Aa? 



282 HUNTING EXCURSION. 

meanly clad being but common seamen. The rajah from this 
time portioned out his civilities according to the garb of his 
new friends. 

Captain Swan was by this time deeply chagrined at the 
result of his voyage. Most of his crew were turbulent and 
lawless ; those who had money revelling on shore, and 
continually involving themselves in quarrels with the na- 
tives, — while those who were poor were growling on board 
at the privations they suffered, and the time wasted in inac- 
tion. In the number of the penniless was Dampier, who 
had no means of recreation and no source of enjoyment 
save the faculty of a powerful and quick observation, and 
the delight of entering his remarks in his journal. The 
single and undivided object of the rest of the crew of the 
Cygnet was gold — the plunder of the Manilla ship ; nor 
durst the commander reveal his dislike to their project. 
About the same time that his crew grew violently discon- 
tented, he became himself suspicious of the good faith of 
his friend Rajah Laut, who for the iron and lead which he 
had procured continued to pay with fair promises. 

Beef was one of the articles which the rajah had prom- 
ised to the English, and a party went a hunting with him, 
but found no prey. Dampier, a practised hunter, was 
always of these, parties, and used the opportunities they 
afforded to extend his knowledge of the country. In these 
distant hunting excursions the rajah carried his wives, 
children, and servants along with him in the proas of the 
country, which were fitted up with rooms. They settled 
at some village in the neighbourhood of the hunting-ground, 
the chief and his family occupying one end of the house 
and the Englishmen the other. While he and his men, 
who always hunted from dawn till late in the afternoon, 
were abroad, the Englishmen were frequently left at home 
with the women and children. Though these ladies never 
quitted their own apartment while the chief remained at 
home, he was no sooner gone than they usually flocked to 
the strangers' room, asking a thousand questions about the 
condition of the women and the fashions and customs of 
England. These were the subject of long and earnest 
argument among themselves, some condemning and others 
applauding the custom, which all allowed to be singular, 
of even the king and chiefs having but one wife. Amon^ 



MANNERS OF THE NATIVES. 283 

the proselytes to monogamy was the war-queen or wife, 
the lady who enjoyed the privilege of attending the rajah 
to battle ; and her reasons, if they did not convince, at 
least silenced her opponents. 

During this excursion, Dampier, from the conversation 
of the women, considerably increased his acquaintance with 
the character and customs of the people. They bathed 
daily, and washed after every meal ; and if they became 
unclean from touching accidentally any forbidden thing, 
underwent scrupulous purification. Though associating 
so intimately with the English, they did not like to drink 
with nor after them. Wild hogs abounded, but swine's 
flesh, and every part of that filthy animal, was held in the 
utmost abhorrence by the Mindanaians ; and though they 
invited the seamen to destroy the animals that came to the 
city during the night to feed on garbage under the houses, 
they were ordered to take the swine on board, and those 
who had touched these abominable creatures were ever 
afterward loathed and avoided by the natives, and forbidden 
their houses. This superstitious dislike was carried to so 
great a length, that the Rajah Laut returned in a rage a 
pair of shoes made in the English fashion, of leather he 
had furnished, and in which he had taken great pride, till 
he learned that the thread with which they were sewed 
had been pointed with hog's bristles. The shoemaker got 
more leather, and made a quite unexceptionable pair, with 
which the chief was satisfied. 

At this hunting-village, in the evenings, the women 
danced before the rajah ; and before the party broke up to 
return to Mindanao, he entertained the Englishmen with a 
jar of " rice drink," a fermented liquor, on which he and 
his attendants got very merry. He drank first himself, 
and then his men ; " and they all," says Dampier, " were 
as drunk as swine before they suffered us to drink. 

That balance in human affairs which pervades all condi- 
tions was now turning the scale in favour of the less for- 
tunate portion of the Cygnet's crew. The Mindanaians, 
though hospitable and kind, were, when offended, vindictive 
and deadly in their resentments ; the conduct of these dis- 
solute and openly profligate seamen had given them deep 
offence; and sixteen of the Bucaniers were in a short time 
taken off by poison, to which more afterward fell victims. 



284 CONDUCT OF RAJAH LAUT. 

The islanders were skilled in subtle poisans, which had not 
their full operation till a long while after they were admin- 
istered. Some of the men, after they were conscious of 
having been poisoned, lingered on for months. When 
they died, their livers were found black, dry, and shrivelled 
"like cork." 

The ship had not lain long in the river when it had been 
discovered that her bottom was eaten with worms, which 
bred in such great numbers in this place, that shortly 
before a Dutch veasel had been destroyed by them in two 
months, while the Rajah Laut became heir to her great 
guns. It began to be suspected that he entertained the 
hope of being equally fortunate in a legacy from the Cygnet, 
as he had given no intimation of a danger which the Min- 
danaians always avoided by placing their barks and boats 
in a dry-dock the moment they came into port, even 
when only returned from fishing. He shook his head and 
seemed displeased when he saw that the sheathing of the 
vessel had prevented serious damage, and gravely remarked, 
" that he never did see a ship with the cunning device of 
two bottoms before." Dampier had seen th^. same kind of 
worms in myriads in the Bay of Campeachy and in the 
Bay of Panama, and in smaller numbers in Virginia. They 
are never seen far at sea. 

This alarming damage was repaired in time, though, 
taken with other circumstances, it strengthened the sus.- 
picions of Captain Swan, and excited the discontent of the 
men by increasing their alarm. Rajah Laut also, if he did 
not absolutely refuse, still delayed to furnish the beef and rice 
necessary to their subsistence, and which were to be the 
price of the commodities with which Captain Swan had so 
largely furnished him. His English- friend had also lent 
the rajah twenty ounces of gold, to defray the expenses of 
a solemn ceremonial observed shortly before, when his son 
had been circumcised. This splendid ceremony, at which 
the English assisted, had been celebrated with music, 
dances, the singular war-dance of the country, banquets, 
pageants, and processions by torchlight. The rajah, in a 
manner not uncommon in eastern countries, not only 
refused to repay the gold, but when urged, insisted that it 
had been a present, and finally demanded payipent for all 



SAILING OF THE CYGNET. 285 

the victuals Swan and his men had consumed at his hos- 
pitable board. 

While the rajah thus refused to discharge his debts, the 
Bucanier crew clamoured to be gone, and, becoming openly 
mutinous, a party of them resolved to carry off the ship. 
Neither Dampier, who happened to be on board, nor the 
surgeon's mate, approved of this treacherous design, but 
they were reluctantly compelled to go with the rest, leaving 
Captain Swan and thirty-six men at Mindanao, from 
whence the Cygnet sailed on the 14th January, 16S7, in- 
tending to cruise off Manilla. A Bucanier of Jamaica, 
named Read, was chosen commander. The first intima- 
tion Swan had of his abandonment was the gun which was 
fired as the ship got under way. To his own irresolution, 
bad temper, and want of firmness Dampier imputes this 
misfortune. If, when apprized of the design of the muti- 
neers, he had come on board and behaved with prudence and 
courage, he might have brought back the greater part of 
the men to their duty, and taken his own measures with 
the ringleaders, to some of whom he had certainly given \/ 
just cause of discontent. 

After leaving Mindanao, the Cygnet, with a crew now 
reduced by various causes to eighty men, coasted to the 
westward. They fell in with a great many Keys, or small 
low islets, between which and Mindanao there was a good 
channel. On the east of these Keys they anchored and 
obtained green-turtle. At different places they cut ratans, 
such as were used in England for walking-canes. They 
saw here large bats, " seven or eight feet from tip to tip" 
of the extended wings, which regularly at dusk took their 
flight from the smaller islands to the main island in swarms 
like bees, and returned like a cloud before sunrise. On the 
23d they reached Luconia, having captured a Spanish 
vessel laden with rice and cotton-cloth, bound for Manilla. 
The master had been boatswain of the Acapulco ship which 
had escaped them at Guahan, and which now lay safe in 
port. Nothing, therefore, of consequence could be hoped 
for this season, and to beguile the time, and wait a more 
favourable opportunity, they resolved to sail for the Pulo 
Condore or " Islands of Calabashes," a group of small 
islands on the coast of Cambodia. They anchored at 
Condore on the 14th March. Two of the cluster are 



386 THE ISLANDS OF CALABASHES. 

pretty large and high. They were tolerably well wooded, 
and on the greatest of them was found a tree from which 
the inhabitants extracted a pith or viscid juice which they 
boiled up into good tar, and which, if kept boiling long 
enough, became pitch.* The mangoes of which the Indian 
pickle is made were found here. They were now ripe, 
and were betrayed to the seamen by their delicious frag- 
rance. The grape-tree was also seen, with the wild or 
spurious nutmeg, and many sorts of beautiful birds, as 
parrots, paroquets, pigeons, and doves. The inhabitants 
of Pulo Gondore resembled the Mindanaians, but were 
darker in complexion. Their chief business was to make 
tar of the pith of the trees mentioned above, which they 
exported to Cochin-China, from which these islanders were 
originally a colony. The oil of the turtle was another 
article of their commerce with their mother-country. The 
islanders were idolaters. In a temple Dampier saw the 
image of an elephant and of a horse, which they were sup- 
posed to worship. 

At this place the Bucaniers remained for a rnonth ; after 
which they cruised in the Gulf of Siam and in several 
parts of the China seas, taking all barks that fell in their 
way, whether Spanish, Portuguese, or native vessels. 
From the crew of a junk belonging to the Island of Suma- 
tra they learned that the English had established a factory 
on that island. The surgeon and Dampier, who had 
accompanied " this mad crew" against their inclination, 
^' and were sufficiently weary of them," would have escaped 
here, and taken their chance of getting to this or some 
other English factory ; but they were constrained to re- 
main in the Cygnet. 

The next destination of the Bucaniers was the Ponghou 
Islands, which in no respect answered their purpose of 
quiet and security. At the place where they anchored 
there was a large town and a Tartar garrisan. 

In the charts which they possessed there were laid down, 
marked by the figure 5, a group of islands situated between 
Luconia (the cynosure of their hopes) and Formosa ; and 
these, which offered a tolerably convenient station, they 

' * Probably the damar, the most important of the gums found ifl th$ 
Ift&im islands, m^ extensively use(} for ships ^fid bpa^s. 



THE BASHEK ISLANDS. 287 

feoped might be either uninhabited or only peopled by tribes 
from whom they might with impunity plunder provisions^ 
without danger of the outrage being heard of in the Phi- 
lippines. They steered for them, and upon the 6th August 
reached the interesting group now known as the Bashee 
Islands. They approached by the westernmost and largest 
of the group, on which they had the felicity to see' goats 
browsing ; but safe anchorage was not obtained till next 
day, in a bay at the east side of the easternmost island. 
The sails were not furled when a hundred small boats 
swarmed round the Cygnet, each carrying from three to 
six men, with whom the deck was soon crowded. The 
pirates, alarmed by the numbers of the islanders, got their 
firearms in readiness ; but iron, the most precious of metals 
with the savage, for which he freely and gladly gives gold 
m exchange, wondering at the folly or simplicity that in- 
duces the European to the unequal barter, and leaving the 
philosopher to decide which gaiiiS most by the bargain,— 
iron was the only thing that captivated the Basheeans, who 
quickly picked up all the little pieces they could find, but 
were otherwise' perfectly quiet and orderly. Waxing bolder 
by indulgence, one of them tried to wrench out an iron 
pin from the carriage of a gun. He was laid hold of, and 
his cries made all his countrymen scamper off in a fright. 
The man was, however, kindly treatedj and, being first 
made sensible of his error in attempting to steal, was pre- 
sented with a piece of iron, with which he swam to his 
comrades. Thus reassured, the islanders returned, and a 
brisk trade was opened, which was renewed daily. Ever 
after this slight check they continued honest, and they had 
always been civil. A hog was now got for two or three 
pounds of iron, a fat goose for an old iron hoop, and the 
liquor of the islands, the bashee drink, from the name of 
which the pirates gave the whole group their general 
appellation, for old nails, spikes, and bullets. 

These five islands wer6 more particularly named, 1. 
Orange Island, so called by the Dutchmen among the crew 
in honour of their native prince. It is the largest and 
most westerly of the group, and was uninhabited. 2. Graf- 
ton Island was so named by Dampier in compliment to the 
noble family in whose household he hady as has been men-* 



288 NATIVES OF THE BASHEE ISLANDS. 

tioned, left his wife. 3. Monmouth Island was named by 
the seamen after the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, the 
son of Charles 11. The other two were called the Goat 
and the Bashee Island, from the number of goats seen on 
the one, and the abundance of the beverage which gained 
the approbation of the seamen that was made on the other. 
The two latter are small islands, lying to the south, in the 
channel v^hich divides Orange Island from Grafton and 
Monmouth Islands. Monmouth Island is high, and so 
fenced with steep rocks and precipitous cliffs, that the 
Bucaniers did not land upon it as they did upon all the 
other islands. Grafton and Monmouth Islands were thickly 
inhabited, and on Bashee there was one village. The 
natives were " short squat people, generally round-visaged, 
with low foreheads and thick eyebrows ; their eyes small 
and hazel-coloured, yet bigger than those of the Chinese ; 
short low noses, their lips and mouths middle-proportioned ; 
their teeth white, their hair black, thick, and lank, which 
they wore cut short ; it will just cover their ears, and so is 
cut round very even," says Dampier, and to this fashion 
they seemed to attach great importance. Their skins are a 
dark copper-colour. They wear neither hat, cap, turban, 
nor any thing to keep off the heat of the sun. The men 
had a cloth about their middle, and some wore jackets of 
plantain-leaves, " as rough and bristly as a bear's skin.'* 
The women were clothed with a short cotton petticoat, 
which fell below the knees ; of " a thick, stubborn" cloth 
that they manufactured themselves. Both men and women 
wore large earrings of a yellow glistering metal, found in 
the mines in their own mountains, resembling gold, but 
paler in colour. These rings and this metal completely 
baffled the science of the pirates, who had rather an in- 
stinctive love of gold than much knowledge of its natural 
properties. When first polished the rings made of this 
yellow metal looked peculiarly brilliant, but they soon faded 
and became quite dim, when it was necessary to throw 
them into the fire, first casing them in a soft paste made 
of a red earth. After being heated red-hot they were 
cooled in water, and the paste rubbed off, when the glister- 
ing lustre was found renewed. Our navigator was, unfor- 
tunately, too poor to be able to purchase any of this 



BREWING AND COOKERY OF THE ISLANDERS. 289 

metal ;* or rather too honest to reckon any part of the iron 
belonging to Captain Swan's owners, of which there was 
still a good quantity on board, his property, though his 
companions were much less scrupulous. The language 
01 the people of the Bashee Isles was quite strange to the 
pirates, though they were now tolerably well acquainted 
with the Malay tongue, the dialect of Mindanao, and the 
Chinese language. 

No foreign commodities of any kind were seen among 
the Basheeans, nor any thing that could have been intro- 
duced by sea, save a few bits of iron and pieces of buffalo- 
hides. In all points they appeared an unmixed race, in 
their dispositions singularly mild, amiable, and peaceful. 
Their islands produced plantains, bananas, pumpkins, and 
plenty of yams, which made the principal part of their food. 
They had no grain of any kind, and consequently but few 
fowls, which Dampier never saw in plenty where there was 
not either maize, rice, or grain of some sort. Some cotton- 
plants were seen, and sugar-canes, from the boiled juices 
of which the natives made the liquor so agreeable to their 
visiters. The boiled juice, with which a small black berr;^ 
was mixed, was allowed to ferment for three or four daysj 
and when it had settled, was poured off clear from the lees, 
and was fit to drink. It was much like English beer, both 
in taste and colour, and, as Dampier verily believed, a per- 
fectly wholesome beverage, many of the men who drank it 
copiously every day, and were often drunk with it, being 
never once sick in consequence of their liberal potations. 
The natives sold it cheaply, and when the seamen visited 
at their houses freely gave them Bashee-drink, and some- 
times bought a jar from a neighbour to entertain their 
guests. These purchases were made with small crumbs of 
the glistering metal above described, which, wrapped in 
plantain-leaves, served as a substitute for coin. Though 
cleanly in their persons and habitations, the inhabitants of 
the Bashee Isles were in some respects very filthy in their 
eating. They were not seen at this time to kill any 
animals for their own use ; but of the goats purchased by 

* The Bashee Islands have since been linown to afford a considerable 
quantity of gold-dust, washed down from the mountains by the torrents. 
The Spaniards, in 1783, formed a settlement on Grafton Island to collect 
the gold, and left a garrison of about 100 men, 
Bb 



290 THEIR SINGULAR DWELLINGS. 

the Bucaniers they begged the skin and garbage, and 
when the surly seamen threw them into the sea, they 
would take them out. With the hogs they never meddled. 
The goat's skin they broiled and gnawed ; and of the 
paunch made what to them appeared a delicious dish. 
The whole crude contents of the stomach were emptied 
into a pot, and stewed with any small fish they had caught, 
which they took what Dampier thought very superfluous 
trouble in cleaning and mincing, considering the nature 
of the substances with which the fish were mixed. This 
mess was eaten as the people of the Philippines did their 
rice, he being reckoned the best-bred among the Minda- 
naians who, wetting his hands to prevent the boiled rice 
from sticking to them, could most dexterously roll up and 
swallow the largest ball. The people of these island had 
another singular dish made of locusts, which at this season 
attacked the potato-leaves in multitudes, and in their 
ravages spared no green thing. They were about an inch 
and a half in length, and as thick as the tip of a man's 
little finger, with large thin wings and long small legs. 
The Basheeans caught them in small nets, a quart at one 
sweep. When enough were obtained for a dish, they were 
parched in an earthen pot over the fire, till the legs and 
wings dropped off, when from brown they became red. 
Their bodies were succulent, though the heads crackled 
under the teeth of the eater. 

The dwellings of the islanders, and the places upon 
which they had perched them, were among the most singu- 
lar features of their social condition. In describing them 
we adopt the words of Dampier :— " These people made 
but low, small houses. The sides, which were made of 
small posts, wattled with boughs, are not above four feet 
and a half high : the ridge pole is about seven or eight feet 
high. They have a fireplace at one end of their houses, 
and boards placed on the ground to lie on. They inhabit 
together in small villages built on the sides and tops of 
rocky hills, three or four rows of houses one above another, 
under such steep precipicofs that they go up to the first row 
with a wooden ladder, and so with a ladder still from every 
story up to that above it, there being no other way to ascend. 
The plain on the first precipice may be so wide as to have 
rooxtt both f^r a raw of houses, which stand all along the 



PRI]>IITIVE BELLOWS. 291 

edge or brink of it, and a very narrow street running along 
before their doors, between the row of houses and the foot 
of the next precipice, the plain of which is in a manner 
level with the roofs of the houses below, and so for the 
rest. The common ladder to each row, or street, comes up 
at a narrow passage, left purposely about the middle of it, 
and the street being bounded with a precipice also at each 
end, 'tis but drawing up the ladder if they be assaulted, and 
then there is no coming at them from below but by climb- 
ing a perpendicular wall. And that they may not be as- 
saulted from above they take care to build on the side of 
such a hill whose back hangs over the sea, or is some high, 
steep, perpendicular precipice, altogether inaccessible." 
These precipices and regular terraces appeared quite natu- 
ral. Grafton and Monmouth Islands abounded in these 
rocky fortresses, in which the natives felt themselves secure 
from pirates, and from enemies whether foreign or domestic. 

The boats of the islanders were ingeniously constructed, 
somewhat like Deal yawls, and some of them so large that 
they could carry forty or fifty men. They were impelled 
by twelve or fourteen oars on each side. Though scantily 
provided with iron, the Basheeans could work this metal, 
employing the same sort of bellows, remarkable for rude 
ingenuity, which Dampier had seen at Mindanao. This 
primitive bellows was formed of two hollow cylinders, made 
of the trunks of trees, like cur wooden water-pipes. They 
were about three feet long, and were placed upright in the 
ground, near the blacksmith's fire, which was made on the 
floor. Near the bottom of each cyhnder, on the side next 
the forge, a hole was bored, into v/hich a tube was exactly 
fitted. These tubes met in a common centre or mouth op- 
posite the fire. The bellows being thus prepared, a man 
stood between the hollowed trunks v»rith a brush of feathers 
in each hand, which he worked alternately in the cylinders, 
like the piston of a pump, thus impelling the air through 
the small pipes below, which by this means kept up a blast 
that played continually upon the fire. 

The men of the Bashee Islands, while the Cygnet lay 
there, were generally employed in fishing, leaving the planta- 
tions to the care of the women. Their weapons were 
wooden lances, of which only a few were headed with iron ; 
their armour a buffalo's hide, as thick as a board, which 



292 MANNERS OF THE BASHEE ISLANDERS. 

covered them to the knees, having holes for the head and 
arms. No form of worship was observed among this tritie, 
nor did any one seem to have more authority than another. 
Every man had one wife, and ruled his own household, — 
the single wife appearing affectionate and happy, and the 
children respecting and honouring their parents. The boys 
•went out to fish with their fathers, while the girls attended 
to domestic duties with their mothers. Their plantations 
were in the valleys, where each family had one ; and thither 
the young girls, as soon as they were able for the task, de- 
scended every day from their rocky abodes to dig yams and 
potatoes, which they carried home on their heads for the 
use of the family. 

In no part of the world had Dampier seen people so per- 
fectly quiet and civil as these islanders. " They dealt 
justly and with great sincerity," he says, " and made us 
very welcome to their houses with Bashee-drink." 

Meanwhile the cruise off Manilla was not forgotten. 
Eighty hogs were salted, and yams and potatoes laid up for 
sea-store. The crew had taken in water, and now only 
waited the settling of the eastern monsoon to take their de- 
parture. On the 24th September the wind shifted to the 
east, and by midnight blew so fiercely that they were driven 
to sea, leaving six of their men on the island. It was the 
1st October before they were able to recover their anchoring 
ground. The natives immediately rowed their comrades on 
board. As soon as the ship was out of sight, the islanders 
incre9,sed in hospitality and kindness to the strangers left 
among them: They only stipulated that the Bucaniers 
should cut their hair in the Bashee fashion ; a,nd on this 
condition offered each of them a wife, and, as a dowry, a 
plantation and implements of labour. 

The late storm, their long and profitless cruise, now ex- 
tending with some of them to years, and the penalties to 
which their criminal acts made them all alike liable in every 
civilized country, combined to depress the spirits of the 
crew of the Cygnet ; and once more every man heartily 
wished himself at home, " as they had done a hundred 
times before." They were, however, persuaded by the 
captain and master to try one more chance, and agreed to 
steer for Cape Comorin, for ever renouncing the long- 
indulged dream of capturing the Manilla ship. Dampier 



THE CYGNET LEAVES THE BASHEE ISLANDS. 293 

believed that the ultimate object of the pirate commanders 
was to cruise in the Red Sea, and by one more desperate 
effort to make or for ever mar their fortunes. Of all the 
company none vv^as more heartily tired than our naviga- 
tor, who had been betrayed into this voyage, and whose 
thoughts, since leaving Mindanao, had run continually on 
making his escape to some English settlement. To avoid 
the danger of meeting English or Dutch ships, with which, 
in taking the best and most direct course, they were in dan- 
ger of falling in, they agreed, instead of steering for the 
Straits of Malacca, to go round the east side of the Philip- 
pines, and, keeping south to the Spice Islands, pass these, 
and enter the Indian Ocean about Timor. To Dampier all 
routes were alike. " I was well enough satisfied," he says, 
" knowing that the farther we went the more knowledge 
and experience I should get, which was the main thing I 
regarded, and should also have the more variety of places 
to attempt an escape from them." 

On the 3d October they sailed from the Bashee Isles, 
leaving, for the first time, a somewhat favourable impres- 
sion of their characters, and bearing away grateful and 
affectionate remembrances of this gentle and amiable 
tribe. They steered S. S. W., with the wind at W. and fair 
weather ; and passed certain islands which lie by the 
north end of Luconia. Leaving the coast of this island, 
and with it " all their golden prospects," they steered 
southward, keeping to the east of the Philippines, and on 
the 15th anchored between the two small islands named 
Candigar and Sarangan, near the south-east end of Min- 
danao ; and next da}'-, at the north-west end of the most 
easterly of the islands, found a fit place to careen and refit 
the ship. While they lay here the nephew of the sultan, 
who, in name of his uncle, had formerly been treating with 
Captain Swan to visit and garrison his island, and take in 
a cargo of spice, came on board and requested a passage 
home, as they were understood to be going southward. 
From him they obtained intelligence of Captain Swan and 
their deserted comrades, who had been fighting under Rajah 
Laut with a hostile tribe in the interior. The English- 
men had conducted themselves so bravely in fight, that they 
were now in high favour at Mindanao ; though it was 
feared they had been found too powerful and useful as allies 
Bb2 



•294 FATE OF CAPTAIN SWAN. 

to be permitted easily to leave their new service. Swan 
had for some time been attempting, unsuccessfully, to hire 
a vessel to convey him to Fort St. G eorge. 

At this time Dampier took an opportunity of persuading 
the men to return to their duty, to carry the ship back to 
the river of Mindanao, and give her up to the true com- 
mander ; but before this could be effected, one man, who 
seemed the most zealously to embrace the proposal, gave 
information, and Captain Read deemed it prudent to weigh 
anchor with all expedition, and without waiting the arrival 
of the prince, to whom a passage had been promised. Read 
held a course south-west, and once more disappointed the 
hopes of Dampier, who believed that, by carrying home the 
young chief, they might, at his uncle's island, establish a 
factory and a lawful traffic. 

The ultimate fate of Captain Swan, of whom we are 
now to lose sight;, was not a little painful. Two supercar- 
goes or merchants of the ship, Harthop and Smith, died at 
Mindanao ; and when the commander, after a series of 
vexations and disappointments, was going out to a Dutch 
vessel which lay in the river, hoping to get away at last, the 
boat was run down by the emissaries of Rajah Laut, and 
Swan and the surgeon were either drowned or killed in the 
water. The property of the English captain was imme- 
diately seized by the perfidious chief, who justified his con- 
duct by imputing as crimes to the unfortunate Englishman 
the idle impotent threats wrung from him by hope deferred, 
irritation, and grief. 

The Cygnet continued her bootless voyage among the 
islands and channels of the Philippines on to the Spice 
Isles, and anchored off Celebes, where the seamen obtained^ 
a supply of turtle, and found, among other shellfish, cockles 
of so monstrous a size that the meat of one of them made a 
meal for seven or eight persons. It was palatable and whole 
some. Here they also found a vine, of which the leaves, 
pounded and boiled v>?ith lard, made an infallible sea-salve 
One of the company had formerly learned its uses from the 
Indians of the Darien ; and most of the seamen now laid 
up a store, such as had ulcers finding great benefit from its 
healing properties. On the 29th November they left this 
place ; and after encountering the dangers of the shoals 
which surround Celebes, and expeiiencing fmme ,torn£wio«.s. 



ISLAND OF BOUTON. • 295' 

on the 1st December saw, and on the 5th approached, the 
north-west end of the island of Bouton. On the evening 
of the 30th they had seen at a distance two or three water- 
spouts, but escaped them all. 

An Indian who spoke the Malay tongue came on board 
at this time with some of the turtle-strikers, and informed 
them of a good harbour on the east side of Bouton, for 
which they sailed. They came to anchor within a league 
of Gallasusung, a clean and handsome town, situated upon 
a hill in the middle of a fertile plain, surrounded with cocoa- 
trees. The people resembled the inhabitants of Mindanao, 
and their houses were built in the same style ; but they 
appeared in all respects more " neat and tight." They 
were Mohammedans, and spoke the Malay language. The 
same description seems to fit every sultan whom the voy- 
agers saw, — " a little man about forty or fifty, with a great 
many wives and children." Unaware of the exact character 
of his visiters, the Sultan of Bouton was pleased to hear 
that they were English, and made them a visit in a hand- 
somely ornamented proa, with a white silk flag displayed at 
the masthead, edged with red, and having in the centre, 
neatly painted, the device of the prince, — a green griifin 
trampling upon a dragon or wmged serpent. 

They had no object in remaining here ; and as a forlorn 
hope, or from curiosity, resolved to steer for New-Holland, 
" to see what that country could afford them." In leaving 
Bouton they got among shoals, and it was about three weeks 
before they passed Timor, and got clear of all the dangers 
of this chain. They stood oflf south, and on the 4th Janu- 
ary fell in with the north-west coast of New-Holland in 16^ 
50". They ran close in, but found no safe anchoring- 
ground, as the coast lay open to the N. E. They steered 
for about twelve leagues N. E. by E., keeping close in by 
the shore, and reached a point, three leagues to the east- 
ward of which they found a deep bay with many islets, and 
finally anchored at about a mile from the land. Seeing 
people walking on the shore, a canoe was sent off, but the 
natives ran away and hid themselves ; and though traces 
of fires were seen, no habitation could be discovered. Toys 
and trinkets were left on the shore at such places as the 
people were likely to find them. 

The coast here was low and level, with sandbanks. No 



296 NORTH COAST OF NEW-HOLLAND. 

water could be found, though at several places old wells were 
seen dry in the sandy bays. Having failed of their object 
on the mainland, neither provisions nor water being found, 
nor a hope of them, some of the boats visited the islands in 
the bay, and surprised a party of the natives. The men at 
first threatened the intruders, and showed their lances and 
swords ; but the noise of a single gun frightened them, and 
the women seemed in very great alarm. Screaming, they 
ran away with their children, while the men stood to parley. 
Those who from sickness or feebleness were unable to fol- 
low, lay still by their fires uttering dolefiil lamentations ; 
but when it was seen that no harm was intended them, they 
became tranquil, and many of the fugitives returned. 

The Bucaniers had entertained no design against these 
wretched people more flagitious than to make them labour 
in carrying the water-casks to the boats. To this they tried 
to bribe them with ragged shirts and old breeches, finery 
which could have charmed some of the insular families of 
the Pacific, though they were totally disregarded by the inert 
natives of New-Holland, whose first associations with Eu- 
ropean finery were connected with hard and compulsory 
labour. " We put them on them," says Dampier, speaking 
of the tattered rags of the Bucaniers, " thinking this finery 
would make them work heartily for us ; and our water be- 
ing filled in barrels of about six gallons, we brought these 
new servants to the wells, and put a barrel on each of their 
shoulders to carry to the canoe. But all the signs we could 
make were to no purpose ; for they stood like statues with- 
out motion, but grinned like so many monkeys, staring upon 
one another." It was found that they had not even strength 
sufficient for the task of being carriers of water ; and Dam- 
pier believed that an English shipboy of ten years old would 
have been able to bear heavier burdens than these feeble 
savages. " So we were forced," he says, " to carry our 
water ourselves ; and they very fairly put the clothes off 
again, and laid them down, as if clothes were only to work 
in. I did not perceive," he adds, " that they had any great 
liking to them at first ; neither did they seem to admire any 
thing we had." In the estimation of Dampier, the natives 
of New-Holland were lower in the scale of humanity than 
any tribe of which he had ever heard, the Hottentots not 
excepted. " Setting aside their human shape," he says, 



NATIVES OF THE COAST. 297 

" they differ but little from brutes. They are tall, straight- 
bodied, and thin, with long small limbs. They have great 
heads, round foreheads, and great brows. Their eyelids 
are always half-closed to keep the flies out of their eyes, so 
that they never open their eyes like other people ; and 
therefore they cannot see far, unless they hold up their 
heads as if they were looking at somewhat over them. 
They have great bottle-noses, pretty full lips, and wide 
mouths. The two foreteeth of their upper jaw are wanting 
in all of them, men and women, old and young. Whether 
they draw them out I know not ; neither have they any 
beards. They are long-visaged, and of a very unpleasant 
aspect, having no one graceful feature in their faces. 
Their hair is black, short, and curled, like that of negroes ; 
and the colour of their skins coal-black, like that of the ne- 
groes in Guinea. They have no sort of clothes, but a piece 
of the rind of a tree tied as a girdle about their waists, into 
which is thrust a handful of long grass or small green leaiy 
bouglis. They have no houses, lying in the open air with- 
out covering, the earth their bed, the heaven their canopy." 
They lived in groups or families of from twenty to thirty, 
men, women, and children ; their only food being a small 
kind of fish which they caught at floodtide in a sort of weirs. 
Few shellfish were seen among them. Yet even these 
miserable people were redeemed to humanity by the posses- 
sion of some good qualities. Whatever they caught was 
fairly divided. Were it little or much, every one had a 
share of the bounty that Providence had sent, " the old and 
feeble who were unable to go abroad, as well as the young 
and lusty." This disinterestedness, with their bold defence 
of the women and children on the first appearance of the 
Europeans and the startling report of firearms, is, however, 
all that can be said in praise of apparently the most abject 
and wretched tribe of the great human family. When they 
had consumed what was caught, they lay down till next 
low- water, and then all who were able to crawl, be it night 
or day, went to examine the weirs. No iron was seen 
among these people ; but they had wooden swords, and a 
kind of lance like a long pole, sharpened at the upper end, 
and hardened by heat. 

No sort of quadruped was seen here ; but there were a 
few land and sea birds, and plenty of manatee and turtle, 



298 , THE NICOBAR ISLANDS. 

though, the natives had never learned to strike them. They 
had neither boats, canoes, nor rafts, bat could swim between 
the islands of the bay. No form of worship was discerned 
among them ; and though they greedily devoured rice, 
manatee, or whatever was given them, their minds never 
once appeared awakened to any feeling of interest or cu- 
riosity. Four men who were caught swimming, and brought 
on board the ship, were sensible to nothing but the food 
which they devoured and the delight of getting away. The 
wonders around them, — the British ship and her strange 
company, — which would have charmed many of the tribes 
of Polynesia to ari ecstasy of surprise, were unnoticed by 
the savages of this part of New-Holland. 

The Mosquito-men were busily employed during the time 
that the ship was cleaned and the sails repaired ; nor did 
Dampier miss the opportunity of once again persuading his 
messmates to go to some English factory and surrender the 
vessel and themselves. The threat of being left on this 
barren and melancholy coast, among the most wretched of 
the human race, compelled him to consult his prudence 
rather than his duty, and to wait a fairer chance of escape. 

The destination of the Cygnet was still Cape Comorin ; 
and on the 4th of May t\:ey made the Nicobar Islands, the 
chief commodities of which were ambergris and fruits, 
which the inhabitants disposed of to any European vessels 
that chanced to visit them. Dampier now openly expresseu 
his intention of leaving the ship ; and Captain Read, be- 
lieving that he could not more effectually punish his refrac- 
tory shipmate than by granting his wish, and leaving him 
at this island, at once gave him leave to go on shore. Lest 
Read might change his mind, Dampier immediately lowered 
his bedding and chest, and got some one to row him to the 
land. He had not been long on shore when a party were 
sent from the ship to bring him back, and he complied, 
aware that if he persisted in going away against their will, 
the Bucaniers would not hesitate to make a descent on the 
coast and kill some of the natives, who would in turn re- 
venge themselves on him. On returning to the ship, he 
found that his spirited example had moved some of the other 
persons who hnd long entertained a similar design of effect- 
ing their escape, and three of them now joined his party, of 
whom the surgeon was one. The captain and crew re- 



DAMPIER LEAVES THE BUCANIERS. 299 

fused on any terms to let the surgeon depart ; but after 
some altercation Dampier and his two companions, on a fine 
clear moonlight night, were landed and left in a sandy bay 
of this unloiown island. One of the seamen who rowed 
tliem ashore stole an axe and gave it to them, as the means 
of propitiating the natives, or of buying provisions. They 
were* speedily joined by four Acheenese previously found in 
a captured proa, whom Captain Read released before setting 
sail ; and now they fancied themselves strong enough to 
row to Sumatra. A P ?tuguese, taken prisoner by the Buc- 
aniers long before, was also landed, and the party of eight 
considered itself able for defence if attacked by the natives, 
though no one offered to disturb them. 

From the owner of an empty hut in which they slept they 
bought a canoe with the stolen axe, and, placing their goods 
in it, embarked for Acheen. It upset as soon as under 
way, and though no life was lost, their clothes were wetted-^ 
and what to Dampier was of far greater importance, the 
journals of many years and his drafts were damaged. 
Three days were spent in drying their things, and altering 
the canoe into a sailing-boat, which was expertly done by 
the Acheenese, who fitted her witTi a mast, outriggers, and 
a suit of mat-sails. With the natives, who watched all their 
movements, though more from curiosity than suspicion, 
they bartered rags and strips* of cloth for melIory,t — a fruit 
the size of the bread-fruit, shaped like a pear, with a tough, 
smooth, light-green rind, which Dampier asserts is confined 
to these islands. They also obtained cocoa nuts, which the 
Acheenese gathered, and might have had iiogs, but that they 
did not choose to disgust their Malayan friends, who were 
Mohammedans. Once more they embarked in their frail ves- 
sel, their only guides a pocket-compass with which Dampier 
had provided himself, and a sketch of the Indian Seas, 
which, contemplating escape, he had previously, from a 
chart in the ship, copied into his pocket-book. 

They had been out three days when the weather became 
threatening, and soon rose to a tempest. We shall employ 

* A strip of cloth which those islanders wear attached to their slight 
covering led Linnaeus into the ludicrous mistake of asserting, on the 
authority of an ignorant Swedish sailor, that here existed a race of men 
with tails. 
1 The melLori of the Nicobars, called by the natives Zar?i7n, is a species 
f bread-fruit, said to be superior even to that of Qtaheite. 



300 VOYAGE TO ACHEEN. 

the striking language of Dampier himself to describe what 
followed, nor, while it reveals so much of his true character 
and feelings, could a better specimen of his more elevated 
and earnest style be easily selected : — " The wind continued 
increasing all the afternBon, and the sea still swelled higher 
and often broke, but did us no damage ; for the ends of the 
vessel being very narrow, he that steered received and Broke 
the sea on his back, and so kept it from coming in, which 
we were forced to keep heaving out continually. The eve- 
ning of this day was very dismal. The sky looked very black, 
being covered with dark clouds. The wind blew hard, and 
the seas ran high. The sea was already roaring in a white 
foam about us ; a dark night coming on, no land to shelter 
us, and our little bark in danger to be swallowed by every 
wave ; and, wh9.t was worst of all, none of us thought our- 
selves prepared for another world. I had been in many im- 
minent dangers before now, but the worst of them all was 
but play-game in comparison with this. I had long before 
this repented me of that roving course of life, but never with 
such concern as now. I did also call to mind the many mi- 
raculous acts of God's providence towards me in the whole 
course of my life, of which kind, I believe, few men have 
met the like. And for all these I returned thanks in a pecu- 
liar manner, and once more desired God's assistance, and 
composed my mind as well as I could in the hopes of it, and, 
as the event showed, I was not disappointed of my hopes. 
Submitting ourselves therefore to God's good providence, 
and taking all the care we could to preserve our lives, Mr. 
Hall and I took turns to steer, and the rest to heave out the 
water ; and thus we provided to spend the most doleful 
night I ever was in." 

The pious trust of Dampier and his companions did not 
fail them. After enduring great hardship, they reached a 
small fishing village in a river's mouth of the Island of Su- 
matra, at which their companions, the Malays of Acheen, 
were previously acquainted. They were so much exhausted 
when they arrived here as to be unable to row their canoe 
to the village, — another example of the sudden prostration 
of strength to which persons who have been in imminent 
jeopardy are liable as soon as the danger appears to be past. 
The people of the place assisted them in, and a chief who 
came to see them, being given to understand that they were 



DAMPIER MEETS MORGAN AT ACHEEN. 301 

prisoners escaped like the Acheenese from pirates, treated 
them with great kindness. A house was provided for their 
reception, and far more provisions sent to it than they could 
use, as they were all sick from excessive fatigue, and the 
cold and heat to which they had alternately been exposed, 
now scorching unsheltered in the noontide sun, and again 
bleaching in the chill rains of midnight. After resting for 
ten days, though not yet restored to health, they entreated 
to be allowed to proceed to Acheen to their countrymen ; 
and they were provided with a large proa, and permitted to 
depart. On their arrival at Acheen they were strictly ex- 
amined by the native magistrate, and then given up to the 
care of an Irish gentleman connected with the factory. 
The Portuguese died, and Ambrose, one of the Englishmen 
who left the Cygnet, did not long survive him. Dampier, 
originally robust, and whose constitution was now by his 
hardy mode of life almost invincible, recovered, though 
slowly ; the remedies of a Malay doctor, to whose care he 
was committed, having proved worse than the original 



When his health was somewhat re-established, Dampier 
made a voyage to Nicobar with Captain Bowry, an English 
captain who traded to different parts of India. His next 
voyage was to Tonquin with Captain Weldon, with whom 
he afterward went to Malacca, and thence to Fort St. 
George, where he remained for five months, and then re- 
turned to Bencoolen, to a factory lately established by the 
EngUsh on what was at that time called the West-coast. 
Here he also officiated for five months as gunner of the fort. 

While at Acheen, after returning from Malacca, Dam- 
pier met with Mr. Morgan, a former shipmate in the 
Cygnet, from whom he learned the fortunes of the Buca- 
niers. After he had left them at Nicobar, they steered for 
Ceylon, but by stress of weather were compelled to seek 
refreshments upon the coast of Coromandel. Half the 
crew at this time left the ship, part of whom afterward 
found their way to Agra, and entered the service of the 
Mogul as guards ; but upon the offer of a pardon from the 
English governor at Fort St. George, they repaired to that 
garrison. The Cygnet reached Madagascar, where the 
pirates entered the service of some petty prince then at war 
with a neighbouring chief. 

Co 



303 BUCANIERS OF THE SOUTH SEA. 

We may here take a farewell glance of the Bucaniers, 
and especially of those left by Dampter m the South Sea. 
In pursuing their old vocation they became more successful 
after the Cygnet crossed the Pacific. They captured many 
vessel s,~ and revelled in the plunder of several towns ; 
sometimes cruising together, but as often in detached 
bands. Townley was so far fortunate as to obtain with ease 
at Lavelia the treasure and merchandise landed from the 
Lima ship on the former year, for which Swan had watched 
so long in vain, and for which the whole Bucanier force 
had battled in the Bay of Panama. Townley afterward- 
died of wounds received in another attack. The Frencli 
party stormed Granada ; and Groignet, dying of his wounds, 
v/as succeeded by Le Picard. Harris followed Swan across 
the Pacific ; and Knight, satiated with plunder, returned 
by Cape Horn to the West Indies, — those of his party who 
had in gambling lost their share of the pillage remaining in 
the Bachelor's Delight. The narrative of the traverses of 
this vessel on the coasts of Peru and New Spain, written 
by Lionel Wafer, who remained with Davis while Dampier 
followed Swan, possesses considerable interest. Davis 
generally kept apart from the French freebooters, but 
joined them at an attack on Guayaquil, where the Buca- 
niers amicably divided a rich booty. The French party, 
among whom, however, there were many Englishmen, after- 
ward made their way overland, and with great difficulty 
from the Bay of Amapalla to the head of a river which 
falls into the Caribbean Sea, each man with his silver and 
gold on his back, the fortunate and cunning hiring as 
porters the comrades they had previously stripped at the 
gaming-table. 

Davis, who during his long cruise had frequently re- 
mained for weeks at Cocos Island and the Galapagos group, 
now sailed from Guayaquil to these islands, to careen and 
victual his ship previous to leaving the South Sea by Cape 
Horn. The Galapagos* were become to the Bucaniers in 
the South Sea what Tortuga had been to their predecessors 

* The captain of an English ship, which made a voyage in the Pacific 
in 1794,— one hundred and ten years after the retreat of the Bucaniers 
from the South Sea, — relates that he found the remains of their seats 
made of turf and stones, empty jars like those in which the Peruvian 
wine is kept, and nails, daggers, and other articles left by them. 



SUPPRESSION OF BUCANIERING. 303 

in the "West Indies. In his run south from the Galapagos, 
Davis discovered Easter Island, though the merit of the 
discovery w^as aftervv^ard claimed by the Dutch Admiral 
Roggewein, and is still a matter of dispute, Davis at this 
time left five of his men with five negro slaves on Juan 
Fernandez. They had lost every farthing which they pos- 
sessed at the gaming-table, and were unwilling to leave 
the South Sea as poor as they entered it. The Bachelor's 
Delight successfully doubled Cape Horn ; and Davis, who, 
among the Bucaniers, stood high. in point of character both 
for capacity and worth, reached the West Indies just in 
time to avail himself of the pardon offered by royal procla- 
mation. Dampier afterward in England met with his old 
commander, whom he highly esteemed. 

Though the French Flibustiers, countenanced by their 
government, continued to flourish during the war which 
followed the accession of William III. to the throne of Eng- 
land, and did brave service to their country in the West 
Indies, bucaniering, already severely checked, ceased among 
the English from this time, or shifted into the legitimate 
channel of privateer-adventure ; yet for more than twenty 
years a few desperate characters, English or English 
Creoles, outlaws or deserters, pretending to be the true 
successors of the old Rovers, who had strictly limited their 
depredations to the Spanish Vv^est Indies, continued to in- 
fest the commerce of every nation, and haunted every sea 
from Cape Wrath to the islands of the Indian Ocean, 
w^herever robbery could be practised with impunity, whether 
on land or water. The better to forward or conceal their 
designs, these lawless ruffians often allied themselves with 
native princes, as the new commander of the Cygnet had 
done at Madagascar. Of these degenerate descendants of 
the Bucaniers of America, the numerous crew of a pirate- 
ship named the Revenge, which Avas captured among the 
Orkney Isles, suffered by the sentence of the Court of Ad- 
miralty so late as 1724.* 

V While Dampier was at Fort St. George an English ves- 
sel arrived from Mindanao laden with clove-bark, having 
on board an. Indian prince he had formerly seen a slave at 



* We need scarcely remind the reader of Sir Walter Scott's romance 
The Pirate 



304 THE TATTOOED PRINCE: 

that place, and whom Mr. Moody, the supercargo of the 
ship, had purchased from his owner. This prince was 
from the islands named Meangis, which he said abounded 
in gold and cloves ; and it had been a favourite specula- 
tion with Dampier to establish a factory, and open a trade 
there, which might have been managed from Mindanao. 
This scheme was, however, blown to air ; and Prince 
Jeoly, whom Dampier while at that island had proposed to 
purchase from his master to be his guide and introducer, 
was now on the way to England to be exhibited as a show. 
Mr. Moody, who had purchased Jeoly, was meanwhile ap- 
pointed to the factory of Indrapoor, then juSt established 
on the west coast of Sumatra ; and to induce Dampier to 
accompany him to this station, and take charge of the 
guns, promised that a vessel should be purchased in which 
he might realise his old scheme of going to Meangis with 
the native prince, and establishing a commerce in cloves 
and gold. Being afterward unable to fulfil this promise, 
Moody not only released his friend from the engagement 
to serve at Indrapoor, but presented him with a half-share 
of the " painted prince," leaving him meanwhile under his 
charge. As Prince Jeoly was the first tattooed man ever 
seen in Europe, the account given of him by Dampier is 
still curious. The islands from which he came lay about 
twenty leagues from Mindanao, bearing S. E. They were 
three in number, small but fertile, and abounding, accord- 
ing to the report of the prince, in gold. The abundance 
of cloves and spice Jeoly, using a common oriental figure, 
described by showing the hairs of his head. His father 
was rajah of the island on which they lived. On it were 
about thirty men and a hundred women, of whom five were 
Jeoly's wives. By one of his wives he had been " painted." 
He was tattooed down the breast, between the shoulders, 
and on the thighs ; and also round the arms and legs, in 
the form of broad rings and bracelets. The figures Dam- 
pier could not compare to either the outline of animals or 
plants, but they were full of ingenious flourishes, — and 
showed a variety of lines and checkered work in intricate 
figures. Upon the shoulder-blades the lines and pattern 
were peculiarly elegant. Most of the men and women of 
Jeoly's island were thus "painted." They wore gold 
bracelets and anklets, had canoes, and lived upon potatoes, 



DAMFIER LEAVES BENCOOLEN. 305 

yams, fruits, and fish. They had also plenty of fov/Is. His 
native language was quite different from the Malayan, 
which he had acquired during his slavery. In passing 
with some of his relations from one island to another, their 
canoe had been driven by a violent tempest towards the 
coast of Mindanao, and they were all made prisoners by 
the Mindanaian fishermen, w^ho stripped them of their 
golden ornaments, and sold them for slaves. 

With his situation at the fort of Bencoolen Dampier 
found much reason to be dissatisfied, though the character 
of the governor was his principal grievance. But besides 
his disgust with this ofiicial, from whose treatment of others 
Dampier drew no favourable augury for himself, he began 
strongly to experience the stirrings of that longmg after 
his native country to which every wanderer is at last sub- 
jected ; and though his pecuniar}!; afi:airs were in greater 
disorder than on the day he embarked with the Bucaniers^ 
and he had been glad to earn two dollars, his sole treasure, 
by teaching plain sailing to the lads of Weldon's ship, he 
sanguinely promised himself a fortune from Prince Jeoly, 
and hoped that in England he might be able to obtain a 
ship to carry back the chief to his native island, where, 
thus introduced, he could not tail to establish a lucrative 
trade in gold and spices. Mr. Moody had meanwhile dis- 
posed of the share which he retained of the unfortunate 
captive to the mate of an India ship bound for England, 
and with this vessel Dampier wished to return home him- 
self, though the capricious and tyrannical governor, who 
had at first consented to his departure, at the time of the 
ship's sailing revoked the permission, nor yielded to any 
entreaties, though the captain and others importuned him 
to let the long-absent wanderer return to his country. The 
day before the ship sailed Dampier crept at midnight 
through a port-hole of the fort, abandoning all his property, 
save his journal and manuscripts, for the chance of free- 
dom and of reaching home. The mate of the ship, his 
new partner in Jeoly, by previous agreement waited for 
him with a boat, and kept him concealed on board till the 
vessel sailed, which it did on the 25th January, 1691. 

The voyage, from the illness of the crew, proved tedious 
and troublesome, but it was completed at last ; though the 
same bad fortune which had attended Dampier at so many 
Cc2 



306 DAMPIER PUBLISHES HIS VOYAGES. 

turns of life deprived him of all advantage from bringing 
home Jeoly. He arrived in the Thames in utter poverty, 
and w^s compelled by necessity to sell his share of " the 
painted prince ;" thus for ever renouncing the romantic 
project of carrying him back to Meangis, which poor Jeoly 
was destined never again to revisit. After being seen by 
many " eminent persons," he caught the small-pox at Ox- 
ford, and died. 

Of Dampier at this time we hear no more. The narra- 
tive of his eight years' ramble round the globe breaks off 
abruptly by saying, " We luffed in for the Downs, where we 
anchored, Sept. 16th, 1691." 

All that can now be learned, — all, perhaps, that is de- 
sirable or important is, that in the following year Dampier 
published his " New Voyage round the World,^^ and after- 
ward a Supplement, which he entitled Voyages and Descrip- 
tions. The work was dedicated to Charles Montague, 
Esquire, President of the Royal Society, and a Commis- 
sioner of the Treasury, with whom it appears he had no 
previous acquaintance. Its intrinsic merits, the charm of 
the narrative, and the style, soon brought the author into 
notice, and the work ran rapidly through several editions, 
and. was translated into French and Dutch. Among other 
distinctions. Captain Lemuel Gulliver, at that period a 
navigator of very great celebrity, hailed Dampier, from 
whom he borrowed many hints, as " Cousin." 



VOYAGE TO NEW-HOLLAND. 307 



CHAPTER XI. 

Voyage to New-Hollands 

Voyage of Discovery to New-Holland and New-Guinea — Dampier on 
the Coast of New-Holland— Dirk Hartog's Reede— Appearance and 
Productions of the Country — Discoveries on the Northern Coasts — 
Plants and Animals — Appearance and Character of the Natives- 
Voyage to New-Guinea — New Islands and their Productions — Dis- 
covery of King William's Island— Slingers' Bay— Manners of th,9 
Natives — Discovery of Cape St. George and Cape Orford — Natives of 
Port Montague— Their suspicious, inhospitable Character— Affray with 
the Natives — Volcanic Island — Discovery of Nova Britannia — Islands 
in Dampier's Strait — Return to King William's Island, and Second 
Voyage to the Coast of New-Hoiland— Dampier's Shipwreck— Un- 
grateful Reception— His Voyage in the St. George — Bad Conduct of 
his Officers — Dampier's Imprisonment by the Dutch — Return to Eng- 
land—Voyage in the Duke— Testimony bonie to his Merits— Reflec- 
ions on his Character and Fate — The End. 

In 1699, the country being in profound peace, an expe- 
dition of discovery, highly honourable to the royal projector, 
was ordered by William III., the conduct of which the Earl 
of Pembroke, who was then at the head of the Admiralty, 
committed to Dampier, who was recommended solely by 
his qualifications as a seaman, his large experience, and 
evident capacity. The countries which he was particularly 
recommended to examine in this voyage were New-Holland 
and New-Guinea. 

The vessel in which Dampier undertook the voyage to 
New-Holland was a king's ship named the Roebuck, old 
and crazy before she left the port. She carried 12 guns and 
a crew of 60 men and boys, with provisions for twenty 
months, and the equipments necessary to the accomplish- 
ment of a voyage undertaken for the future promotion of 
traffic, but of which the immediate object was discovery. 
Dampier, who had always been fond of natural history, at 
this time carried a draughtsman with him. The Roebuck left 
the Downs on the 14th January, 1699, and proceeded pros- 
perously to the Cape de Verd Islands, and afterward to the 
.coast of Brazil, where Dampier thought it necessary to put 



808 DAMPIER ARRIVES AT NEW-HOLLAND. 

into some port, as he intended at the next stretch at once 
to reach New-Holland. On the 25th March they anchored 
at Bahia de todos los Santos, where thirty large European 
vessels then lay, besides other ships and a multitxide of 
craft. The governor was named Don John de Lancaster, 
and, claiming to be of high English extraction, was exceed- 
ingly courteous to the countrymen of his ancestors. 

They sailed on the 23d April, and on the following days 
caught small sharks, which they cooked in the Bucanier 
fashion, and called good fish. On their way to the Cape of 
Good Hope they saw nothing more remarkable than the 
carcass of a whale, about which hovered " millions" of sea- 
fowl, darkening the air far around. They also saw the 
stormy-petrel, a bird resembling a swallow, but smaller, and 
which skims like a swallow. Seamen, naturalists say most 
unjustly, call them foul-weather birds, and at all times dis- 
like their appearance. " In a storm they will hover under 
the ship's stern, in the wake or smoothness which the ship's 
passing has made on the sea ; and there, as they fly gently, 
they pat the water alternately with their feet as if they 
walked upon it, though still on the w^ing. Hence the sea- 
men give them their harpe from Peter walking on the Lake 
of Gennesareth." 

The voyage proceeded favourably. On 4th July they 
frequently made soundings, and 90 leagues from New-Hol- 
land often saw whales, and at 30 leagues bones of the scut- 
tlefish floating, and also seaweed. They were now close 
upon the western coast of New-Holland, and constantly 
sounded. On the morning of the 1st August they descried 
land at the distance of six leagues, but were unable to find 
a safe harbour, and from foul weather were compelled to 
stand off till the 5th, when they again approached the same 
coast. Next morning they ran into an opening, keeping a 
boat sounding before the ship, and anchored at two miles 
from the shore, in the harbour named Dirk Hartog's Reede, 
from the first discoverer, who in 1616 had anchored here. 
To this bay Dampier gave the name of Sharks' Bay. He 
lays it down as in 25'* S. at the mouth. 

The land here is rather high, and from sea appears level, 
but is found to be gently undulating. On the open coast 
the shore is bluff ; but in the bay the land is low and the 
soil sandy, producing a species of samphire. " Farther in" 



NEW PLANTS, BIRDS, AND FISHES. 309 

— ^we now adopt Dampier's description — " it is a reddish 
mould, a sort of sand, producing grass, plants, and shrubs. 
Of trees and shrubs there are various sorts, but none above 
ten feet high. Some of the trees were sweet-scented, and 
leddish within the bark Hke sassafras, but redder. The 
blossoms of the different sorts of trees of several colours, 
but mostly blue, and smelt very sweet and fragrant. There 
were, also beautiful and fragrant flowers growing on the 
ground, unlike any I had ever seen elsewhere." There 
were eagles, but no other large birds, and of small singing- 
birds great variety, with fine shrill notes; Besides the ordi- 
nary sea-birds there were many strange kinds quite new to 
the voyager. The kangaroo he describes as a sort of ra- 
coon, diflfering from those of the West Indies chiefly in the 
legs ; what he calls the racoons of New-Holland having 
very short fore-legs, with which they go jumping about. Of 
the iguanas of this country Dampier gives a striking de- 
scription. They were inferior as food to those with which 
he had been familiar in the West Indies and the South Sea, 
and when killed and opened were very offensive in smell. 
Nothing can be more loathsome and disgusting than the pic- 
ture he gives of this large species of lizard {scincus tropicu' 
rus). In Sharks' Bay, besides an abundance of sharks, 
large green-turtle were found, both of which furnished wel- 
come refreshment to the seamen. The fish were skate, 
rays, and other flat kinds, with muscles, oysters, and small 
shellfish. " The shore was lined with strange and beautiful 
shells." 

They had anchored at three different places to search for 
water, and on the 1 1th, for this purpose, and also to prose- 
cute discovery, they stood farther into the bay ; but after 
several abortive attempts again bore out to sea, having pre- 
viously scrubbed the ship. Sea-snakes were seen of differ- 
ent kinds ; one sort yellow with brown spots, about four feet 
in length, and of the tliickness of a man's wrist, with a flat 
tail ; another kind smaller, shorter, and round, spotted black 
and yellow. 

It was the 14th August when they sailed out of this bay 
or bight, and phed off and on northward, keeping about six 
or seven leagues from the shore, and frequently sounding. 
On the 15th they were in latitude 24° 41' ; on the 16th in 
23° 22', "jogging on northward," seeing in their progress 



310 DISCOVERY OF ROSEMARY ISLAND. 

many small dolphins and whales and abundance of scuttle- 
fish-shells and water-serpents. On the afternoon of the 
18th, off a shoal m 23° 22", of which Dampier kept clear, 
numerous whales were seen on all sides of the ship, " blow- 
ing and making a very dismal noise." When the Roebuck 
got into deeper water these alarming fellow-voyagers left her. 

On the 20th they were carried out of sight of land, which 
■was recovered on the 21st, visible only from the mast, bear- 
ing south-east by east, and appearing at the distance of nine 
leagues like a bluff headland. Around this place was an 
archipelago of islands of good height, which Dampier be- 
lieved to be a range stretching from E. N. E. to W. S. W. for 
about twenty leagues, or probably to Sharks' Bay, and of 
considerable depth, which he presumed might possibly afford 
a passage to the great South Sea eastward. Next day he 
ran in among these islands, the boat sounding before. The 
water was of very unequal depth ; and the arid appearance 
of the shores and yellow rusty colour of the rocks made them 
despair of finding water, though Dampier, hoping that they 
might either discover a new channel leading through to the 
mainland of New-Holland, or find some sort of rich mineral 
or ambergris, for which this was a favourable latitude, was 
unwilhng to turn back. The island near which he rode he 
named Rosemary Island, as a plant* that seemed of that 
kind grew here in abundance, but was destitute of smell. 
Two kinds of beans were found ; the one grov\'ing on bushes, 
the other on a creeping plant that ran along the ground. 
Cormorants and gulls were seen, and a kind of white parrot, 
which flew in large flocks. 

They left this place on the 23d, and for some time coasted 
on with the land-breeze, having had since leaving Sharks' 
Bay fine clear weather, which still continued. Water- 
snakes, whales, noddies, and boobies were seen. On the 
27th and 28th they were out of sight of land, which was 
recovered on the 30th in latitude 18° 21' S., great smokes 
being seen on the shore. This night there was an eclipse 
of the moon. 

Early next day an armed party of ten men landed to 

* The genus called dampiera, containing thirteen species of shrubby 
or perennial herbaceous plants, all natives of New-Holland, was named 
in honour of the celebrated navigator by Mr. Robert Brown, in his Pro- 
dromus Florae Novae HoUandise. 



NATIVES OF NEW-HOLLAND. 311 

search for water, carrj^ing with them pickaxes and shovels. 
Three tall, black, naked men were seen on the beach, but 
they went away. The boat, lying at anchor a little way 
out in the water to prevent seizure, was left in the care of 
two sailors, while the rest of the party followed the natives, 
who. were soon joined by eight or nine men. They stood 
posted on an eminence, from which, however, they fled on 
the approach of the Englishmen. 

From this height the party descried a savanna studded 
with what they at first fancied to be huts, but discovered to 
be only rocks, and no water near them. They returned to 
the place at which they had landed, and began to dig, but 
were menaced by another party of natives collected on an 
adjoining height, who vociferated with angry gestures, as 
if they ordered the strangers to be gone. One of them at 
length ventured to approach, and the rest followed at a cau- 
tious distance. Dampier went forward to meet them, mak- 
ing signs of peace and friendship ; but the leader fled, and 
the others kept aloof. The want of water made it abso- 
lutely necessary to establish a communication with the na- 
tives, whether by fair or violent means ; and an attempt 
was made to catch some of them, a nimble young man who 
was with Dampier trying to run them down. As soon as 
he overtook them they faced about and fought him ; and 
Dampier, who was himself assailed, was compelled to fire 
off his musket in defence of his man, who, though armed 
with a cutlass, was unable to beat back so laany wooden 
lances. The first shot, intended to scare but not to injure, 
was treated, after a momentary alarm, with indifference or 
contempt. They tossed up their arms, exclaiming, ^^Pooh, 
pooh, pooh .'" and pressed closer upon the seaman ; and 
Dampier durst no longer withhold his fire. One native fell 
— his friends paused in alarm — and the young seaman 
escaped. " I returned back," says Dampier, " with my 
man, designing to attempt the natives no farther, being 
very sorry for what had happened." The young English- 
man was wounded in the cheek by a lance. Among the 
attacking party there was one young man who, from his 
appearance and dignity of demeanour, was imagined a chief 
or leader ; yet this impression was given by something dis- 
tinct from either height of stature or personal beauty, for 
the New-Hollander was neither so tall nor well-made as 



312 THE PEOPLE AND COUNTRY. 

some of the others, but " a brisk young man," active and 
courageous. He was the only one of the group that was 
painted. A circle drawn with some sort of white pigment 
surrounded each of his eyes, and a white streak reached 
from the forehead to the tip of the nose. His breast and 
part of his arms were also stained, " not for beauty or orna- 
ment," it was very rationally concluded, *' but that he seemed 
thereby to design the looking more terrible, — this his paint- 
ing adding very much to his natural deformity." Dampier 
imagined these New-Hollanders to be of the same nation 
with those he had seen when the Cygnet had touched on 
this coast. " They were the same blinking creatures," he 
says, " with the most unpleasant looks and worst features 
of any people I had ever seen." He did not get near enough 
to discover if this tribe also wanted the two fore-teeth, a& 
that tribe did. By the old fireplaces quantities of shells 
were found • of the kinds of shellfish on which the other 
island tribe lived, and their lances were similar in shape. 
The general features of the country at the places visited on 
this coast were the same as those already described, — low, 
with chains of sand-hills, the land round the shore dry and 
sandy, bearing many shrubs with beautiful blossoms of va- 
rious colours and of delicate fragrance. Farther on, the 
land was mixed woodland a.nd savanna. The plains were 
studded with detached rocks resembling haycocks at a 
distance, — some red, and others white. By subsequent voy- 
agers these have been taken for large ant-hillocks. Some 
animals were seen resembling hungry wolves, lean as 
skeletons. 

Brackish water was at last obtained, which was employed 
to boil the oatmeal, in order to save what remained in the 
casks ; and our navigator on the 5th September left this arid 
and steril coast ; on the 7th, in latitude 16° 9^, and out of 
sight of land, stood out to sea ; and on the 8th, in 15° 37', 
shaped his course for the Island of Timor. On the 22d he 
came to anchor in Coepang Bay, near the Dutch fort Con- 
cordia ; but afterward went to Laphao, a Portuguese settle- 
ment on the 'opposite side of the island. 

After resting and refitting at this fine island, the voyage 
was prosecuted to New- Guinea. The Roebuck sailed on 
the 20th December, and on the 1st January, 1700, they de- 
scried the western coast of this countr — high level land 



DAMPIER ARRIVES AT NEW-GUINEA. 313 

covered with thriving trees. Near the land they were 
assailed by tornadoes, and black clouds hovered over it, 
while at sea the weather was clear and settled. On the 7th 
they landed, caught at one haul above three hundred mack- 
e:iel, and next day anchored in the mouth of a river, where 
they took in water. Fruits of unknown kinds were brought 
on board by the pinnace, and one of the men shot a stately 
land-fowl about the size of the dunghill-cock, sky-coloured, 
but with a white blotch and reddish spots about the wings, 
and a long bunch of feathers on the crown. From Fresh- 
water Bay, which they named this place, they sailed out by 
White Island, which was in 3° 4' S., and is distinguished 
by white cliffs. The Roebuck beat up to the northward 
against currents and adverse winds, and passed many islets 
and dangerous shoals, occasionally anchoring to obtain 
wood and water. At an island named by the natives Sa- 
buda, in 2° 43' S., Dampier found a tawny race closely 
resembling his old friends at Mindanao. Negroes were also 
seen here, of the curly-haired blacks which had originally 
obtained for this country the name of New-Guinea. Some 
of these oceanic negroes appeared the slaves of the yellow 
or Malay race. The w^eapons were the same as in Minda- 
nao ; the lances pointed with bone. These islanders had a 
very ingenious way of making the fish rise. A block of 
wood carved like a dolphin was let down into the water by 
a line, to which a weight was attached in order to sink it. 
When they had w^aited the effect of their stratagem the 
decoy was rapidly raised by the line, the fish followed it, and 
the strikers stood ready prepared. 

Still plying northward, on the 4th February they reached 
the north-west cape of New-Guinea, called by the Dutch 
Cape Mabo. A small woody island lies off the cape, and 
to the north and north-east islets are numerous. The land 
is generally high, and covered with tall healthy timber. 
Near one of these islands, which, from the enormous size 
of the cockles found at it, he named Cockle Island, Dam- 
pier had almost run upon a shoal, but got off, and, coming 
to anchor, despatched the boats to the island, from whence 
pigeons were brought, and cockles of the moderate size 
of ten pounds. The shell alone of one formerly found 
weighed fifty-eight pounds. Bats of the large kind were 
seen here 

Dd 



314 FARTHER DISCOVERY ON THE COAST. 

The Roebuck stood onward four or five leagues, shaping 
her course to the east, and at a small woody island found 
ordinary-sized cockles in prodigious abundance, and nume- 
rous pigeons. On the 7th they anchored at an island finely 
wooded " with tall straight, trees fit for any u^e,"' which 
Dampier loyally named King William's Island. From the 
time of passing Cape Mabo till the 12th, the Roebuck, 
owing to easterly winds, had not advanced above thirty 
leagues to the eastward. When they got to 2° S. the east- 
erly winds increased, and as they approached the equinoc- 
tial, hung still more easterly. On the afternoon of the 12th 
the wind shifted to a more favourable point, with heavy 
rain, which continued for some days. They descried, at 
the distance of six leagues from the shore, two headlands 
about twenty miles apart, one to the east, the other to the 
west. The last they named the Cape of Good Hope. On 
the morning of the 15th they were in danger of running 
upon an island not laid down in their charts, which Dam- 
pier, in commemoration of the escape, named Providence 
Island. Large trees and logs were this day seen floating, 
which Dampier concluded had come out of some of the 
rivers of New-Guinea. On the 16t.h they crossed the Line. 
The Roebuck was steered for an island seen on the 25th at 
the distance of fifteen leagues, supposed to be that called 
Vischer's Island by the Dutch ; but as it was to him un- 
known land, Dampier named it Matthias Island. It was 
about ten leagues long, hilly and wooded, but intersected 
by savannas and open places. Another island, low, level 
land, seven or eight leagues to the eastward of this, was 
named Squally Island, as they here encountered tornadoes 
so violent and frequent that they durst not venture to 
stand in. 

Dampier afterward stood for the mainland, encountering 
frequent and violent squalls, and steered for a part of the 
coast where he saw many smokes arising. The islands he 
had at first passed were those now known as the Admi- 
ralty Islands. His dourse had lain to the northward of 
them. 

The land he approached was mountainous and well- 
wooded, with large plantations and cleared patches lying 
on the hill-sides. The discoverer wished to have some in- 
tercourse with the natives here, and was glad to see boats 



NATIVES OF SLINGERS' BAY. 315 

and proas come off in great numbers. They approached 
near enough to make signs and to be heard, but their lan- 
guage was totally unknown to the voyagers. They could 
not be induced to approach the ship any closer, not even by 
the allurement of beads, knives, or glasses, though some 
beads floated to them in a bottle were readily picked up, 
and they seemed pleased with the gift. They often struck 
their left breast with the right hand, and held a black trun- 
cheon over their heads, as if in token of friendship. It 
was impossible, from the state of the current, to get the 
ship into the bay to which the natives pointed ; and when 
she wore off, they appeared angry, though they still fol- 
lowed in their proas, which were now increased to a formi- 
dable fleet. The bays were also lined with men. The 
crew got ready their small arms, and when the ship fairly 
stood out, the natives became so ill-pleased that they 
launched showers of stones after her from slings. One 
gun was fired off", and some of the slingers were conjectured 
to be killed or wounded. Dampier named this place Sling- 
ers' Bay. 

Next day the Roebuck passed an island where smokes 
were seen and men in the bays, who followed in three 
canoes, but could not overtake the ship. This island is the 
Gerrit Denys or Gerard Dynas of the Dutch. It is high, 
mountainous, and woody. The hill-sides w^ere covered with 
plantations, and in the sheltered bays there were cocoanut- 
trees. It seemed very populous ; the natives were black, 
with crisp hair, which they shaved in diiTerent figures, 
and died of various hues. They were strong and well- 
limbed, with broad round faces and large flat noses, yet the 
expression of their countenance, when not disfigured by 
their singular taste in ornament, Avas not unpleasant. Be- 
sides being painted, they wore some kind of ornament 
through their noses about four inches long, and as thick as 
a man's thumb- Their ears were perforated with large 
holes filled with similar decorations. The weapons seen 
were swords, lances, slings, bows and arrows^ The proas 
were ingeniously built, and ornamented with carved figures, 
though they had neither sail nor anchor ; and the natives 
were expert and fearless in managing them. Their lan- 
guage was clear and distinct. The black truncheon, used 
as at Slingers' Bay, or a fresh-gathered leafy bough, was 



316 DISCOVERY OF CAPE ST. GEORGE. 

their symbol of friendship. These they placed upon their 
heads, to which they often lifted their hands. 

Dampier next day reached Anthony Kaan's Island, 
which in its external features and social condition closely 
resembled the neighbouring group. It lies in 3° 25'' S. As 
the Roebuck held along the coast, other natives approached, 
and three ventured on board, to whom the captain gave a 
knife, a looking-glass, and beads, showing them pumpkins^ 
and cocoanut-shells, and by signs requesting them to bring 
similar things to the ship. They understood this language, 
and out of one of the canoes took three cocoanuts, which 
they presented to him. When nutmegs and gold-dust were 
shown them, they appeared to intimate that such things 
were to be obtained on their island. The natives here, 
like those already seen, were black, tall, strong, and 
well made, with crisp hair, and their nose and ears were 
ornamented in the same fashion as those seen the former 
day. 

Dampier's next stage was St. John's, an island about 
ten leagues long, abounding in plantations and cocoanut- 
trees, with groves of palms by the shores and in the bays. 
All these islands appeared so populous that the navigator 
feared to send a party on shore for wood or water, unless 
he could have found anchoring-groilnd where the ship might 
have been brought up to protect them ; and he now again 
stood for the mainland of New-Guinea to supply his wants. 
On the 8th he approached the coast so near that smokes 
were seen, with the land high and woody, and thinly inter- 
spersed with savannas. Canoes came off to the ship, in 
which were natives exactly resembling those they had last 
seen. A headland lay to the south in latitude 5° 5' S., 
from which point Dampier concluded that the shores tended 
to the westward, as no land was seen beyond it. This 
headland he named Cape St. George, the meridian distance 
of which from Cape Mabo is 1290 miles. An island off 
this cape he named St. George's Island, and the bay be- 
tween it and the west point St. George's Bay. Great quan- 
tities of smoke arose in sight, and next day a volcano was 
discovered burning. The south-west cape of the bay Dam- 
pier named Cape Orford, in compliment to his noble patron. 
It is a bluff point, of medium height, and flat at the top. 
In advancing on the 14th, a cluster of islands were seen in 



NATIVES OF PORT MONTAGUE. 317 

a bay in which Dampier hoped to find anchorage. He ran 
in and saw smokes, and having got up with the point of the 
bay, houses, plantations, and cocoanut-trees. He ap- 
proached within a few miles of the shore, and several proas, 
with about forty men, came out to view the ship, but would 
not venture on board. The ship now lay becalmed, and as 
other proas full of men approached from different points, 
one of them of very large size, the commander became 
uneasy. He made the first party signs to return to the 
shore ; but they either could not understand, or would not 
obey, and he " whistled a shot over their heads," Which 
made them pull away. Two boats, which had started from 
different points, intended, it was apprehended, to effect a 
junction, and attack the ship. Of these one was a large 
boat, with a high head and stern, painted, and full of men. 
At this formidable bark Dampier fired another shot, which 
made it sheer off, though it afterv/ard pulled but the more 
vigorously to join the other advancing boat. To prevent 
this junction, and overawe the natives in their suspected 
design, the gunner was directed to fire a shot between these 
boats as they approached each other, which he did with so 
true an aim, using round and partridge shot, that they in- 
stantly separated and made for the shore with all speed. 
The Roebuck, which had been for a short time becalmed, 
bore after them into the bay with a gentle favouring breeze ; 
and when it reached the point a great many men were seen 
lurking about the rocks and peeping out. Another shot 
was fired against the point as a necessary measure of in- 
timidation. The shot grazed between the ship and the 
point, flew over it, and grazed a second time very near the 
ambushed party. A number of the natives were still seen 
sitting under the cocoa-trees, whom Dampier, who knew 
the people here to be inhospitable, distrustful, and treach- 
erous (a character which the oceanic negroes had obtained 
from all previous navigators), deemed it necessary to scare 
and disperse ; and a third gun was fired among the wood, 
but over their heads, before the boat was sent out to sound. 
The Roebuck followed the boat, and found good anchorage 
at a quartei of a mile from the shore, and opposite the 
mouth of a small river, where they hoped to find water, the 
true and only object of all this seeminaf harshness. A 
group stationed on a small point at the river's mouth was 
Dd 



318 THEIR AVERSION TO STRANGERS. 

scattered by the former means, though this shot, and all 
that were fired, were aimed aside and harmless. The 
seamen then rowed for the shore, and before they landed, 
the Indians rushed into the water, and placed cocoanuts in 
their boat as a present or propitiatory offering. 

Water was obtained, — one boat's crew keeping watch 
while the other filled the casks, — and an attempt was made 
to commence a trade by exchanging axes and hatchets for 
yams, potatoes, and other articles. The natives were not 
insensible to the value of the goods offered in exchange ; 
but 'they would part with nothing save cocoanuts, which 
they climbed the trees to gather, and gave to the seamen, 
at the same time making signs to them to be gone. 

Having obtained a tolerable quantity of both wood and 
water, Dampier held a consultation with his officers on the 
propriety of putting to sea, or of remaining here some 
time longer, to fish, and endeavour to obtain liogs, goats, 
yams, and whatever refreshments the place afforded. It 
was agreed to remain. AVhile the men were employed in 
cutting wood, a part}' of about forty natives, men and 
women, passed near them. They at first appeared fright- 
ened ; but were somewhat reassured by the signs of friend- 
ship made by the sailors, and passed quietly on. The men 
were finely bedecked with feathers of gay colours stuck in 
their hair, and carried lances ; while the women trudged 
behind totally naked, save for a few green boughs stuck 
into the string tied round their waists. On their heads 
they carried large baskets full of yams. " iVnd this," says 
Dampier, " I have observed of all savages I have known, 
that they make their women carry the burdens, while the 
men walk before without any other load than their arms 
and ornaments." 

When the boats went next ashore, some of the seamen 
entered the dwellings of the natives, who, instead of be- 
coming more familiar on further acquaintance, got more and 
more shy and distrustful. They had now gathered all the 
cocoas, and driven away their hogs to a place in the bottom 
of the bay. Dampier landed himself, carrying with him 
articles proper for presents and trade ; but he was unable 
to inspire the natives with any degree of confidence. Few 
of them approached him, and those with reluctance ; and 
a promise which an Indian made of bringing cocoanuts was 



AFFRAY WITH THE INDIANS. 319 

probably never intended to be kept. He visited three dif- 
ferent villages, and uniformly found the huts abandoned, 
and the furniture and live-stock carried off. When Cap- 
tain Dampier returned to the ship he found all the officers 
and men most importunate to obtain his permission to 
visit the place whither the hogs had been driven. They 
extorted a reluctant consent, and departed furnished v^ith 
commodities for traffic, strictly enjoined to deal fairly with 
the natives, and for their own security to act with caution. 
The bay was two miles distant, and Dampier, who had 
great misgivings of the consequeiifces of the enterprise, 
prepared, in case of the worst, to assist them with the ship's 
guns, as the natives were now seen assembling on the 
shore in large groups, prepared to resist the landing, shak- 
ing their lances, and using threatening gestures. The Eng- 
lish displayed their tempting wares, and made signs which 
Were disregarded by the natives, some of whom plunged 
into the sea with their lances and targets to commence the 
attack. But the seamen were resolved in every event to 
obtain provisions ; and since fair means were repulsed, 
they made no scruple at using violence and severity. 
The first fire of the muskets made the greater part of the 
warriors run oflf, though a few stood with great resolution, 
still in the attitude of repelling the landing. The boldest 
at last dropped his target : it was conjectured that he was 
hit in the arm, and the whole took to flight. Dampier 
acknowledges that " some felt the smart of our bullets, but 
none were killed ; our design being rather to fright than 
to kill them." The seamen shot nine hogs, besides wound- 
ing many that escaped, and in the evening made a second 
trip and brought off eight more. As a sort of compensa- 
tion for the injury done, Dampier sent a captured canoe 
back to the shore, and deposited in it two a:^es, two 
hatchets, six knives, six looking-glasses, four bottles, and a 
quantity of beads. 

This bay, in 6° 10' S., and 151 miles west of Cape St. 
George, Dampier named Port Montague, in honour of the 
President of the Royal Society. Of the appearance and 
nature of the country here he makes a very favourable 
report. " It is mountainous and woody, with rich valleys 
and pleasant fresh-water brooks." The rivers abounded 
in fish ; cocoanut-trees sprung and throve on every island. 



320 VOLCANIC ISLAND. 

and many fruits of unknown kinds were seen- Ginger 
was among the spontaneous productions.. 

The Roebuck was now well supplied with wood and 
water, and the hogs had been salted as soon as brought 
on board. On the 22d March they left Port Montague, 
and on the 24th, in the evening, saw high land bearing 
north-west "half-west, and no land visible more to the 
west," They steered • west-north-west, coasting along 
under easy sail, and at two o'clock saw a pillar of fire. 
At daylight this was discovered to be a burning island, for 
which they bore, seeiiffg many other islands, two of them 
pretty high. They passed through a channel about live 
leagues broad, lying between the Burning Island and the 
mainland. All the night of the 25th, being still in this 
strait, they saw the volcano, " which," Dampier relates, 
" vomited fire and smoke very amazingly." 

On the night of the 26th the Roebuck had shot to t}ie 
westward of the Burning Island, whence the fire could no 
longer be seen, the crater lying on its south side. This 
volcano lies at meridian distance 332 miles west from Cape 
St. George. And now Dampier had attained an important 
stage in his voyage of discovery. " The easternmost part," 
he says, " of New- Guinea lies forty miles to the westward 
of this tract of land, and by hydrographers they are made 
joining together." This he found to be a mistake, and 
discovered that it was a channel he had passed through 
here, in which were many islands. Before entering this 
strait, he named the promontory on the north-east of this 
coast, part of what was then all named New-Guinea, King 
William's Cape. It is high and mountainous. Smokes 
were seen upon it. Leaving it upon the larboard-side, the 
Roebuck bore away close upon the east land, which ends 
with two remarkable capes, distant from each other about 
six leagues, with two fine and very high mountains rising 
from the sea within these headlands. The country ap- 
peared finely mingled with w^oodland and savanna, as 
smooth and verdant as an English meadow. Smokes were 
again seen ; but Dampier, who wished to repair his pin 
nace, which was so crazy as to be unserviceable, chose 
rather to anchor near an uninhabited than a peopled 
island, as he wished to avoid the natives. He stood oxei, 
to the islands, and kept a lookout for land to the north, but 



DISCOVERY OF SEVERAL ISLANDS. 321 

saw none. The navigator was now assured that he had 
passed through a strait, and that this eastern land did not 
join the mainland of New-Guinea. He named this island, 
which he had now nearly circumnavigated, Nova Britan- 
nia, the north-west point of the strait Cape Gloucester, and 
the south-west Cape Anne. The mountain most to the 
north-west of the two which rose between those headlands, 
being very remarkable in appearance, the discoverer chose 
to give it also a name, and called it Mount Gloucester. 

The passage thus discovered is now known in geogra- 
phy as Dampier's Strait. The Island of Nova Britannia, 
in productions and inhabitants, resembled New-Guinea. 
The people were negroes, strong-limbed, bold, and daring. 
They had been closely observed at Port Montague, and 
the remarks made on them there applied with equal pro- 
priety to the few that were afterward seen. 

Advancing in his course, Dampier fell in with several 
islands. One, eleven leagues in length, he named Sir 
George Rook's Island. On the 31st he shot in between 
two islands, — the southernmost long, with a hill at each 
end. This he named Long Island. The one to the 
north was named Crown Island, from its eminences. 
Both were pleasant, and seemed fertile, — savanna and 
^woodland interspersed, the trees green and flourishing, and 
many of them covered with white blossoms. Cocoanut- 
trees were frequent in the bays of that island which from 
its conformation Dampier named Crown Island. It was 
believed to be inhabited but thinly. A boat was seen, 
which just peeped forth from the shore of this island, and 
drew back ; but neither plantations nor smokes were dis- 
covered. In the afternoon of the 31st another island was 
seen bearing north-west by west ; and next morning, the 
ship, having steered away north-west to get to the north- 
ward of it, lay about midway between it and Crown and 
Long Islands. The mainland of New-Guinea, lying to 
the southward, was seen rising very high. From this new 
island, which the navigator named Sir R. Rich's Island, 
four canoes came off, which from a distance reconnoitred 
the ship. One advanced within call, but when invited the 
men would not approach closer. The Roebuck bore on- 
ward, and discovered four more islands, and land to the 
southward which might either be another island or part of 



323 RETURN TO NEW-HOLLAND. 

the mainland of New-Guinea. These islands were gene- 
rally high, full of trees, mixed with clear spots ; all, even 
the Burning Island, were fertile. On the 2d April they 
passed by its north side, and saw that the land near the sea 
was rich, and good for two-thirds of the height of the 
mountains. Among this group of islands three small ves- 
sels with sails were seen, though the inhabitants of Nova 
Britannia appeared quite unacquainted with the use of 
sails. Another island was descried that sent forth smoke, 
which hov^^ever soon dispersed. This is presumed to have 
been the Brandende Berg of Schouten. Different observa- 
tions made at this time showed a variation in the ship's 
reckoning, for which the navigator was at a loss to account. 
On the 14th April they passed Schouten's Island, and on 
the 17th observed a volcano on the mainland, which had 
either not been smoking or had passed unnoticed when 
they sailed round King William's Island. This island, 
discovered in passing round about two months before, was 
seen in the same afternoon, and they crowded sail to reach 
it before dark. But the wind fell, and they were becalmed 
within two miles of the shore. The night was one of 
bright moonlight, and a delightful fragrance was wafted 
from the island to the ship. Next morning they were 
becalmed two leagues to the westward of the island, and 
met such whirling tides that the ship refused to obey the 
helm, and frequently turned round in the whirlpools. A 
gale fortunately sprung up and Carried her off. 

The voyage was prosecuted to the Island of Ceram, 
which they reached on the 26th April. Here they obtained 
a supply of rice from a Dutch vessel, and next went to 
Timor, from whence Dampier intended once more to 
attempt New-Holland in about 20°. Here he found 
soundings at 40 fathoms, but did not see the land, and 
steered westward to search for the Trial Rocks," which 
were supposed to lie in this parallel, and about eighty 
leagues westward of the coast. But Captain Dampier was 
sick and unable to maintain perpetual v>'atch himself, and 
the officers inefficient and careless, so that this important 
point was not ascertained ; nor could more be attempted 

* So named from an English ship called the Trial having been 
wrecked upon them many years before Dampier's voyage. •. 



SHIPWRECK AT ASCENSION. 323 

at this time for purposes of discovery, many of the crew 
being affected with scurvy, and the ship hardly sea-worthy. 
The Roebuck accordingly sailed for Java, and on the 3d 
July anchored in the road of Batavia, where Dampier sup- 
ported the dignity of his mission by making the only Eng- 
lish vessel found in the harbour strike her pendant. On 
the 17th October they sailed for Europe, and without any 
remarkable adventure, having touched at the Cape of Good 
Hope and St. Helena, approached the Island of Ascension 
on the 21st February, and stood in for it, now reckoning 
themselves almost at home. On the evening of the 22d 
the ship, old and damaged before the voyage had com- 
menced, sprung a leak, and it was with difficulty that the 
pumps kept her afloat till daylight, when they made for 
the bay and came to anchor. Every exertion was made to 
stop the leak and save the ship, while the pumps were kept 
at hard work. The carpenters showed great want of judg- 
ment, if not want of skill in their business, and in spite of 
all the ingenious contrivances resorted to by Dampier, 
their improvidence and the damaged condition of the ship 
rendered every effort abortive. Dampier remained on board 
till the very last. He had to regret the loss of many of his 
books and papers, and a collection of shells gathered at 
New-Holland. The plants he contrived to save. The 
condition of the party was more fortunate than that which 
generally falls to the lot of shipwrecked seamen. They 
were most happy to discover a spring of good water, though 
eight miles distant from their tents, and across a very high 
mountain, and Dampier thankfully relates, that " they 
were now by God's providence in a condition to subsist for 
some time, having plenty of good turtle by their tents, and 
water for the fetching." Here Dampier and his company 
remained for about five weeks. During that time they had 
seen several ships and fleets pass ; but none touched till 
the 2d April, when an Indiaman and three English ships 
of war came into the bay. Dampier went on board one of 
them with thirty-five of his men, and the rest of the crew 
were accommodated in the other vessels. 

Though the purpose of his voyage had been accom- 
plished, and though many important additions were made 
by it to geography, the loss of the ship and of his papers 
depressed the spirits of the navigator, and but too probablj 



324 dampier's reflections on fortune. 

lessened his merit with those fortunate persons in high 
places who rarely judge of any undertaking save by its 
apparent success. He was now to suffer for the ignorance 
or mistaken economy of those who, projecting a voyage of 
discovery distant and perilous, imagined that it might be 
accomplished by a useless crazy ship, unfit for what was 
considered better service. The marvel was that it had not 
foundered long before. 

It is to be feared that neither rewards nor even soothing 
promises awaited the return of Dampier from his public 
enterprise. His original patron, or at least the person who 
officially gave him his appointment to the Roebuck, no 
longer presided at the admiralty To this nobleman, the 
Earl of Pembroke, he, however, inscribed his relation of the 
Voyage to New-Holland. 

About his own private affairs, and his personal feelings, 
Dampier is at all times modest and reserved, and we can 
only surmise his disappointment from an incidental remark 
into which he is betrayed in the dedication of his history 
of that voyage, which ought to have been regarded from 
the first as useful to science and honourable to the navi- 
gator. " The world," he says, " is apt to judge of every 
thing by success, insomuch that whoever has ill- fortune 
will hardly be allowed a good name." " Such," he con- 
tinues, " was my unhappiness in my late expedition in the 
Roebuck, which foundered through perfect age, though I 
comfort myself with the thoughts that no neglect can be 
charged against me." Justly, no neglect could be charged 
against him. On the contrary, he was entitled by his con- 
duct of this voyage, independently of his other merits, to 
future employment ; but we hear no more of Captain 
Dampier in the public service. His voyage in the Roebuck 
is the last of his published writings, and the history of the 
remainder of his eventful life, which we gather from others, 
as it is painful, may be brief. 

Captain Dampier had not been long at home when the 
death of King WiUiam HI. took place, and was followed 
by the war of the Succession. Among the private enter- 
prises attending this war with France and Spain was ex- 
tensive privateering ; and he obtained the command of the 
St. George and Cinque Ports, two vessels equipped by a 
company of English merchants, and intended to cruise 



PRIVATEERING VOYAGE. S25 

against the Spaniards in the South Seas. The St. George 
left the Downs in April, 1703, with Captain Dampier* on 
board ; but it wps September before both vessels left Kin- 
sale. The basis of the expedition was the old Bucanier 
maxim, no prey, no pay, — a principle ill-adapted to the 
maintenance of discipline of' order in a ship. In this 
voyage Dampier had in view three special objects, — 
namely, the capture of the Spanish galleons that sailed 
from Buenos Ayres ; and, failing that, to pass the Straits 
of Magellan, or double Cape Horn, and lie in wait for the 
ship that carried gold from Baldivia to Lima ; or, finally^ 
the oft-attempted exploit of the seizure of the Manilla 
galleon. The St. George carried twenty-six guns, and a 
crew of 120. 

The character of Dampier has been subjected to many 
rash and unfounded imputations drawn from histories of 
this voyage published without his sanction. The principal 
one, written by Funnel, who, till he deserted, sailed as 
Dampier's steward, is full of evident misstatements regard- 
ing the navigation, as well as the private transactions in the 
ship. So far as these misrepresentations regarded geo- 
graphical a.nd nautical facts Dampier afterward corrected 
them, though he took little notice of the allegations against 
himself, further than in one or two instances to point out 
their glaring falsehood. Before the voyage was well begun 
quarrels broke out among these irresponsible officers, and 
some of them quitted the ship, while the commander, without 
being invested with salutary power to restrain them, was left 
to bear the blame of the misconduct of the whole company. 

The ships doubled Cape Horn, and reached Juan Fer- 
nandez without any remarkable adventure. While lying 
here a strange sail was seen, to which both ships gave 
chase. She proved to be a French ship cruising in these 
seas, and so strongly did the old Bucanier associations in- 
fluence Dampier, that he acknowledged it was with reluc 
tance he attacked a European vessel of whatever nation. 
He however engaged, and after a fight of seven hours, in 
which both ships suffered considerably, they parted. 

* In the Gazette for 18th April, 1703, it is stated that Captain Dam- 
tier, presented by his royal highness the lord high admiral, hsd the 
ionour of kissing her majesty's (Q,ueeu Anne's) hand, before departing 
6n a new voyage to the West Indies. 
Ee 



326 CLIPPERTON CRUISE OF THE ST. GEORGE. 

Before the proper latitude was reached, the Baldivia' 
treasare-ships had sailed. Though Dampier was the nom- 
inal commander, Stradling, in the Cinque Ports, acted 
independently ; and as they differed about their future 
operations, the ships parted company. A design to sur- 
prise Santa Maria in the Bay of Panama failed ; and though 
Dampier captured a few small vessels, he obtained no prize 
of any value. 

While lying in the Gulf of Nicoya, the commander and 
his chief mate, John Clipperton, quarrelled, and the latter, 
with twenty-one of the crew, seized the tender, in which 
were most of the ammunition and stores, and put out to 
sea. It is alleged that Clipperton at this time stole his 
comi!nander's commission. No captain ever sailed with 
a worse-disposed and more turbulent set of rnen and offi- 
cers than those whom Dampier now commanded. They had 
all the bad qualities of Bucaniers, without their bravery, 
experience, and hardihood. 

The St. George bore northward, and on the 6th Decem- 
ber, while only a short way beyond Port de Navidad, de- 
scried a sail, which proved to be the Manilla galleon.- 
The Manilla ship had no suspicion of any enemy being on 
this coast, and she received several broadsides from the St. 
George before being cleared for action. Even taken thus 
at disadvantage, when her guns, which were of far heavier 
metal, were brought into play, they at once drove in the 
rotten planks of the St. George, and obliged Dampier to 
sheer off. The galleon also held on. It is presumed that 
the number of her men quadrupled those of the English 
ship, and her guns were eighteen and twenty-four pounders, 
while those of the St. George were only five-pounders. 

This proved a bitter disappointment, and the men became 
more and more impatient to end so profitless and fatiguing 
a voyage. In hopes of better fortune, they were, however, 
mduced to continue the cruise for a few weeks longer on 
the coast of New Spain ; but this produced nothing, and it 
was agreed to part company. One pa:rty, instigated by 
Funnel, the mendacious historian of the voyage, resolved to 
sail for India, and by this route return home. A brigantine 
of seventy tons which had been captured was given up to 
him, and the thirty-four men who chose to follow his coun- 
sels ; and the stores, small arms, and ammunition were 



CAPTAIN DAMPIER's " VINDICATION." 327 

divided, four of the St. George's guns being also given to 
this party. Dampier's crew was thus left reduced to 
twenty-nine. After refitting his crazy disabled ship he re- 
turned to the coast of Peru. They plundered the town of 
Puna, and cruised along till their ship was no longer fit to 
keep the sea, when they abandoned her riding at anchor 
at Lobos de la Mar, and embarking in a brigantine which 
they had captured from the Spaniards, crossed the Pacific. 

Of this voyage, andof the subsequent misfortunes of Dam- 
pier in India, there remain no certain or distinct accounts. 
It is however known, that, not having a commission to 
show, he was thrown into prison by the Dutch. Before 
he obtained his freedom and got back to England, Funnel, 
his unworthy subaltern, had returned ; and a London book- 
seller, named Knapton, the publisher of Dampier's former 
voyages, had been induced by their popularity to print this 
person's narrative of the voyage of the St. George, under 
the false title of the fourth volume of the works of the cele- 
brated navigator. Dampier, on coming home, published a 
few pages of explanation, entitled " Captain Dampier's 
"Vindication of his Voyage in the Ship St. George, with 
some small Observations on Mr. Funnel's chimerical Rela- 
tion." Funnel's account, as no other was ever published, 
however, keeps its place as the history of this voyage ; 
though its palpable misrepresentations, and the bad and 
malevolent spirit in which it is written, have drawn upon 
the writer the reprobation of every lover of justice and im- 
partial inquirer after truth. 

The fortunes of Dampier must have been at a very low 
ebb when he returned to England after this disastrous 
voyage ; and it is with pain we find this veteran navigator, 
as much distinguished by superiority of understanding as 
by nautical skill and experience, obliged, in 1708, to act as 
a pilot under younger and very inferior commanders. This, 
which was Dampier's last voyage, again proved to be one 
round the world, and was undertaken in the Duke and 
Duchess, two privateers fitted out by several Bristol mer- 
chants. 

Copious narratives of this voyage are written by the 
commanders, Woodes Rogers and Cook, but it is only in- 
cidentally that we learn any thing from them of their dis- 
tinguished pilot. 



328 VOYAGE OF WOODES ROGERS. 

At Juan Fernandez, Woodes Rogers, on this voyage, 
brought off the celebrated Alexander Selkirk, who had been 
left or rather abandoned here by Dampier's violent and 
tyrannical consort, Captain Stradling, four years previously. 
On the recommendation of Dampier, Selkirk was made 
second mate of the Duke. 

The cruise of the privateers was successful. At Guaya- 
quil, where Dampier commanded the artillery, they obtained 
plunder to the value of 18,000/. and 27,000 dollars as ran- 
som of the town. They afterward, off Cape Lucas, cap- 
tured a Manilla ship richly laden with merchandise, and 
12,000Z. in ^old and silver. They brought their prize into 
Puerto Segura, and prepared to look for the richer and 
larger Manilla galleon ; which they encountered, but, after 
a protracted and severe engagement, were beatpn off. In 
this fight the Duchess alone lost twenty- five men. The 
natives of Puerto Segura were blacker than any other peo- 
ple seen in the South Sea by Woodes Rogers. They were 
of a disagreeable aspect ; their language harsh and guttural. 
They carried bows six feet long, strung with the silk-grass, 
Their arrows were of cane, tipped with flint or bone. 

The privateers now turned their thoughts homeward, 
and keeping the usual track of the galleons, reached Guahan 
on the 10th March, after a run of exactly two months, and 
anchored under Spanish colours. Apart from this venial 
deception, employed to faciUtate the purchase of supplies, 
the conduct of the English privateers was unexceptionable. 
They rested for ten days, and made the north of Gilolo in 
about a month afterward. At Bouton they stopped to 
take in provisions and water, and next sailed for Batavia, 
where they experienced those noxious effects of climate 
from which hardly any ship's company escapes at that most 
unhealthy station. 

They sailed from Batavia in the end of October, waited 
long at the Cape for a homeward-bound fleet, and coming 
round the north of Scotland, five-and-twenty sail, Dutch 
and English, anchored in the Texel in July of the following 
year, and in October, ITll, came to the Thames with booty 
in money and merchandise valued at 150,000/.* From 
this date we hear no more of Captain Dampier, whose 

* From an incidental source we learn that this prize-money was not 
divided up to 1719, so that it is probable that even from this tardy piece 
pf good fortune Captain Dampjer obtained no advantage. 



TESTIMONY OF FOREIGNERS. 329 

nams appears less frequently in the narrative of Rogers 
than, from the eminent nautical abilities of the man who 
bore it, it ought to have done. In diflficulties he was, it 
appears, constantly applied to, and his former knowledge 
and experience taken as guides. At Bouton, where he 
had been in the Cygnet, he was intrusted to carry the 
present to the sultan ; and, from respect to his judg- 
ment and integrity, he was also chosen umpire in the very 
delicate affair of deciding what was plunder for immediate 
division, and in allotting the respective shares. 

Dampier was of the number of those men distinguished 
above their fellows, " who are not without honour save in 
their own country ;" or if at home his merits were appre- 
ciated, wanting the most worthless quality of success, the 
glare and show, they failed of their reward. By French 
and Dutch navigators and men of science he has been uni- 
formly regarded with the warmest admiration, as a man to 
whose professional eminence his own country has scarce 
done justice. They delight to style him the " eminent," 
the " skilful," the ^' exact," the " incomparable Dampier." 
Humboldt has borne testimony to his merits, placing the 
Bucanier seaman above those men of science who after' 
ward went over the same ground ; Malte Brun terms him 
*' the learned Dampier ;" and the author of the voyages to 
Australia inquires, " Mais oil trouve-t-on des Navigateurs 
comparables a Dampier ?" The acuteness, accuracy, and 
clearness of his nautical observations, and of his descrip- 
tions and general remarks, have made his voyages be 
assumed by foreign navigators as unerring guides and au- 
thorities in all subsequent expeditions ; and his rapidity 
and power of observation are fully as remarkable as his 
accuracy. His hasty glance at the places of New-Holland 
where he touched has left subsequent voyagers little to do 
save to verify his descriptions. Darapier's veracity has in 
no instance been questioned, even by those the most dis- 
posed to cavil at facts which, being remote from their 
limited experience, appear extraordinary or impossible. 
Other writers, combining into one the relations of many 
different travellers, have amplified his descriptions ; but 
there is no detached account of the countries he visited 
more full of vital interest and exact information than the 
voyages of this wandering seaman. 
Ee2 



I • 

330 OPINIONS^ OF PINKERTON AND BURNEY. 

t * 

The succession of brilliant discoveries which illustrated 
the early part of the reign of George III. for a time threw 
the adventures of Dampier, and of every previous navigator, 
into the shade, but they are again emerging into popularity. 
Compared with the voyages of recent navigators, his long 
solitary rambles are as the emprises of the single knightly 
combatant, bearing no proportion to the magnitude and 
splendour of regular battle-field, but, from their individu- 
ality, often commanding a more intense and powerful, be- 
cause a more concentrated, interest. 

The cloud which rested on the personal character of 
Dampier from the ignorance or misrepresentations of en- 
vious contemporaries, and the carelessness and haste with 
which writers for the press copy from each other and adopt 
current statements, is fast clearing away. By Pinkerton 
he is termed " the Cook of a former age ;" and Burney has 
taken a generous pleasure in domg justice to his profes- 
sional merits, and shown a more generous indignation in 
rebuking the thoughtless repetition of unfounded calumnies. 
" It is/' he says, " matter of regret, and not less of dis- 
satisfaction, to see that some late writers have been so little 
conscious of the merits of Dampier, as to allow themselves 
to speak of him with small respect, for no other cause than 
that it appears he had disagreements with some of his 
shipmates, the particular circumstances of which are not 
known, further than that he had to deal with a quarrelsome 
and mutinous crew. Such petty considerations should 
never have been lifted up against the memory of such a 
man as Dampier." " It is not easy to name another voy- 
ager or traveller who has given more useful information to 
the world, or to whom the merchant and the mariner are 
more indebted."* To these Burney might have added the 
philosopher and the naturalist, who have rarely been so 
much indebted to any adventurer whose pursuits were so 
entirely remote from their subjects of speculation. This 

* Burney's History of Discovery in the South Sea. — The compara- 
.lively recent "Survey of the Coasts of Australia,'' by Captain P. P. 
King, also does Dampier great justice, and connects his name with the 
geography of the north-west coast of New-Holland in a manner that 
must gratify every admirer of professional eminence. Captain King 
Ijas not merely adopted the distinctions conferred on his celebrated pre- 
decessor by the commanders of the French expeditions, but extended 
IJieir meaning, and added to their number. 



I 
GENIUS OF DAMPIER.' 331 

i 
honourable testimony will remain to the credit of the 
writer, when the vague statements and unsifted calumnies 
which other authors have allowed themselves to repeat to 
the disadvantage of Dampier, are for ever forgotten. 

Though the life of this navigator was spent in incessant 
action, his natural genius appears to have been rather specu- 
lative than enterprising. He liked to reason and to scheme, 
and lost sight of present small but certain advantage in ex- 
tensive and brilliant plans for the future, which his evil for- 
tune forbade him to realize. If, indeed, there be such things 
as good and bad fortune in human affairs independent of 
skill and exertion, Dampier may be pointed out as an ex- 
ample of what the world calls an unlucky man, — one to 
whom every event proves adverse, — who seems singled out 
for misfortune. Except the capital error of the mode of life 
upon which he entered, none of his misadventures can be 
traced to himself; and this lawless life enriched many of 
his contemporaries, while it kept him in poverty and left him 
a beggar. In relating its incidents, he has never once 
attempted to justify or palliate his manner of existence for 
so many years. Amid the vicissitudes and temptations to 
which it exposed him, his excellent understanding and the 
principles he had imbibed in the virtuous household of a 
Somersetshire yeoman preserved him, if not entirely spot- 
less from evil contagion, yet from that decay and deadness 
of moral feeling which are of the worst consequences of 
vicious companionship. He was humane, just in the most 
strict and also in the most liberal sense, candid and chari- 
table in his judgments, and (rare virtues in a Bucanier !) 
orderly and temperate, detesting the riotous excess of his 
associates. Get over the stumbling-block of his early life 
being squared by " the good old rule," and Dampier the 
Bucanier was a virtuous man. In the South Sea, and 
afterward In the Cygnet, he might have obtained command, 
such was the respect his shipmates entertained for his abili- 
ties ; but the love of adventure was his strongest passion, 
and his sole ambition the acquisition of knowledge. 

He appears latterly to have deeply felt the disgrace and 
galling servitude of his lawless life, and serious reflection 
and remorseful feelings pressed upon his mind with great 
force long before he was able to get ftee of his wild asso» 
elates in the Cyornet. 



S32 LAST 1EARS 6t DAlMtWER. 

By the time that Dampier returned to England with 
Woodes Rogers he was far advanced in Ufe, and his career 
for forty years had been one of unremitting hardihood and 
professional exertion. It is therefore probable that he never 
embarked in any subsequent voyage ; and as the remaining 
part of his life, whether long or short, is involved in com- 
plete obscurity, there is but too much rfeason to believe that 
it was passed in neglect, if not in poverty. Of this eminent 
seaman and traveller, though little more thati a century can 
have elapsed since his death, no one is able now to tell how 
the evening of his life was spent, when he died, or where 
he was buried. Had he expired in some rem.ote island of 
the Pacific, or perished in the element on which so great s 
portion of his life was passed, some imperfect recotd might 
have remained to satisfy our natural desire to know the last 
of the worn-out and veteran navigator ; but it was his fate 
to sink unheeded amid the conflicting waves and tides 
of society ; and no memorial or tradition remains of hti 
death, in whose remaikable Ufe the adventures of Selkirk^ 
Wafer, and the Bucanier commanders of the South Sea 
appear but as episodes. So much for human fame ! 



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